


Friends, Meet Family

by SiZodiac



Series: Charlotte Name AUs [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Conflict of Interests, Dysfunctional Family, Enemies to Something Better? Maybe?, Family Shenanigans, Gen, Hilarity Ensues, Meet the Family, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-01-06 21:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18396710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiZodiac/pseuds/SiZodiac
Summary: AU. When news got back to Tottoland that battleship of a certain Charlotte daughter was spotted within the mysterious Florian Triangle, Katakuri was tasked with the mission to retrieve his runaway little sister, with Panna and Nougat tagging along. They arrived on Thriller Bark the same night a certain rookie pirate crew made their entrance.





	1. Invitation

**Invitation**

Eight years ago, sixteen-year-old Charlotte Lola abandoned her infamous family name and royal heritage, to run away from home. Six years ago, Lola started making a name for herself in Paradise as ‘Marriage Proposal’ Lola, living an independent free life searching for true love. Her many siblings back in Tottoland who still very much cared, tracked her progression through the papers, while carefully hiding the information from their vindictive Mama’s knowledge. They canceled all future tea parties celebrating Chiffon and Lola’s birthday, for fear of drawing Mama’s ire. Though a few siblings were sneaky enough to secretly keep clippings of WANTED poster featuring their sister’s smile inside their almond brittle drawers.

Three years ago, Lola suddenly vanished from the face of the globe.

It wasn’t until now that news eventually resurfaced, stating a chocolate-themed battleship suspected belonging to a certain Charlotte daughter was spotted somewhere within the mysterious Florian Triangle. The Emperor Charlotte Linlin was not one to easily forgive, even when it came to family, so she personally tasked her second son Katakuri with the mission of retrieving his traitorous runaway little sister, going so far as granting him the permission to kill should the girl resist.

“Better you than me,” Oven offered with a self-deprecating grimace. Katakuri gave a curt nod, as he prepared to set sail. He had known since years ago that his little brother was willing to kill family for treason, even when it had nearly been their triplet Daifuku’s life on the line.

Charlotte Pudding was fourteen years old and she desperately wished to accompany her older brother on this mission, wanting to see her favorite older sister again. She was not allowed to go however, no matter how hard she threw her tantrums, because Pudding was very special to the family due to her mixed three-eyed blood. Charlotte Nougat and Charlotte Panna won the honor to board the Sweet Commander battleship instead, via the process of drawing straws amongst the youngest siblings. Nougat was stunned in delightful shock, and Panna squeaked doing a happy dance. It would be a vacation in Paradise, with the most popular brother of the family. They were so ready.

Katakuri was worried though. He sat on a gigantic carved bagel serving as deck chair under the battleship main mast, flipping through pages, a book detailing the horrors of the Florian Triangle.

.

Panna leaped down from the brioche crow's nest, landing with elegant grace upon the doughnut quarterdeck. Panna was a nineteen-year-old teenager girl with patience as short as her temper, it had only been two days since they entered this stretch of treacherous sea but she was already growing bored of the dull melancholic scenery. She missed the sun.

“How are we supposed to find anybody in this place,” Panna complained, walking up to her little brother training on deck. “The fog is so thick I can barely see my hand!”

Nougat was fifteen and the current youngest Big Mom Pirates executive. He swung his katana at his much taller sister, but Panna used her weaponized mammalian claws to block it with practiced ease. “Brother Katakuri told us we only needed to wait,” Nougat said. He chased after Panna with his katana, but his older sister danced circles around him without even needing to put on an effort. “We’re already broadcasting our position to anyone within the vicinity, whoever took Sister Lola will come for us as well.”

“But it has been forever!” Panna whined, sidestepping a slash from Nougat and kicked him on the butt with her heel. She giggled, “Your back is wide open, little brother.”

Nougat grumbled from where he had face-planted into the floorboard, about to speak, but abruptly stopped. “... mouth.”

“Huh?” Panna tilted her head.

Nougat pointed behind his sister with a shaking finger. “Mouth!”

Panna turned around, to witness a gigantic mouth opening to swallow their ship whole.

Katakuri hurried out on deck when he heard his little sister’s scream. Panna was crouching low behind Nougat in a failed attempt to hide, burying her face into the younger boy’s furry scarf, posture somewhat comical due to Panna being twice Nougat’s height. A cheetah mink crew-woman was patting the girl soothingly on the shoulder, to calm her distress.

Katakuri surveyed their surroundings from the bow, an odd mouth-shaped gate could be seen on one side and an island surrounded by high walls was vaguely visible underneath heavy fog on the other. He checked the Log Pose on his wrist, still unused to the lone single needle, but no magnetic activity was detected from the suspicious land. Katakuri frowned, walking around to the stern. He saw two other ships a short distance away from their current location, stuck on an oversized spiderweb, one larger that seemed a century old with black sails in tatters and another slightly smaller than their own with a weird sunflower figurehead. He did not see any ship with a chocolate and cocoa truffle theme, how very unfortunate.

“Lord Katakuri,” a crewman came running up to him, panting for breath. “There is something strange going on!”

Katakuri snapped to attention when he perceived the forewarned echo of his sister’s scream again. He strode briskly back to the front deck, in time to see his little brother unsheathing his katana against a ghost-like projection.

“Don’t touch it, Nougat,” Katakuri warned, before the boy embarrassed himself in front of their underlings. “It will sap your willpower.”

Nougat reacted quick and hopped backwards, avoiding contact. The ghost creature at least did not try to pick a fight, instead opted for a hasty retreat after giving them all a careful glance. A scout, perhaps?

“It appears that someone here is capable of soul manipulation,” Katakuri said warily. Those curious astral beings reminded him of their Mama’s power to create incarnations, making him uncomfortable.

“Is Sister Lola really at a place like this?” Panna asked, hugging herself and shaking in her boots.

“You sound scared, Sister Panna,” Nougat smirked, mirth obvious in his eyes.

“It’s creepy!” Panna glared, pointing a clawed finger at the distant mansion veiled in forlorn gloom. “There are ghosts and a haunted house, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about this.”

“Do you want to stay here and guard the ship?” Katakuri asked. They had two dozen crewmen and women for the job, but it would still be his sister’s choice if she would rather stay behind.

Panna shook her head.

“Good,” Katakuri said, gesturing at an apparent entrance about his height on the outer wall, with drapes and a sign read _Thriller Bark_ across the top. “Whoever it is made the trap fairly obvious, but we should still proceed with caution.”

Nougat and Panna made their way to the ominous gateway after giving their brother a quick affirmative nod. On the field, their older brother was their commander.

Katakuri turned back to his crew. “Make sure nobody touch the ship, use lethal force when necessary,” Katakuri said. “Send out a flare signal if you encounter any difficult problems, let us know.”

“Yes, sir, Lord Katakuri! We will make sure nothing goes amiss,” the crew saluted.  
  
Katakuri narrowed his crimson eyes and said no more, his cold gaze tracing an invisible presence some distance away. His observation haki could sense someone watching their every movement, but whoever it was quickly fled. Perhaps unnerved by his perceptive haki ability, relatively rare on this part of the sea. Katakuri put away the jellybean held between his fingertips, disembarked to follow after his younger siblings. Together they approached the sinister building and crumbling stones.

Panna breathed, flexing her sharp claws. Panna did not like this place, so devoid of colors, since she was used to the vibrant saturation of Tottoland, but she was also an executive of the Big Mom Pirates. Panna would not shy away from a fight.

Nougat stared at the long staircase leading down, and down, into a pile of bones. “Hopefully Sister Lola is still alive,” Nougat muttered darkly, his hand on the hilt of his blade.

.

.

 


	2. Guests

**Guests**

Security was unexpectedly scarce as the Charlotte siblings traveled through the confining skeleton-filled entrance hall. Panna didn’t want to tread on the dead remains, so Katakuri carried her in a bridal cradle with one arm. The air stank of chemicals and decayed flesh.

“This place is disgusting,” Panna covered her mouth and nose, but it did very little to improve the smell. “I’m going to be sick.”

Brittle bones crunched underneath boot heels with every step, the clinking sound of spurs echoing in the oppressive pathway. Katakuri touched his free hand upon solid stone bricks, concluding that their position was somewhere underground. He would not be able to break through these walls.

Nougat had run on ahead in his excitement for adventure. His loud enthusiastic footsteps could be heard, as he doubled back to his older siblings. “I found the exit!” Nougat announced. “It’s not far, leading up into a forest.”

Panna let out a relief sigh, she hated the eerie atmosphere.

They made it out of the not-so-welcoming entryway soon enough, ascending a long staircase that opened up into the outskirts of a dense forest. Katakuri put Panna down and was immediately made aware of stragglers hidden amongst the overgrown foliage, at least dozens of them. None showed signs of malicious intent at the moment, so Katakuri ignored them for now, content to wait for those people to make a first move.

Leaves rustled, causing Panna to jump in fright. She reacted by swiping with her sharp talons, accidentally cutting down trees in her bout of uncontrolled panic. Someone—something—howled in pain, Panna paused.

“Why is there homies here?” Panna asked, uncertain. She pointed at the wooden pile struck down by her claws. Nougat went to check, and saw broken trees with human faces scrabbling away.

“I don’t like this,” Nougat muttered. “Soul manipulation and now homies? I thought devil fruits are all unique?”

“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Katakuri said, then gazed up at the overcast sky, absentmindedly beckoning to his younger siblings with a wave. “Panna, Nougat. Come closer, before you get wet,” Katakuri said, spreading his palm to produce hundreds of tiny mochi flakes. The glutinous white substance fell onto the dirt ground, clean as fresh snow. “It’s going to rain.”

Panna and Nougat ran back to their older brother. Mochi enlarged, enveloping the three of them into a protective dome and then morphed into the shape of a modest cottage, just as the first raindrop fell upon the roof. Katakuri opened up a window and doorway with a simple motion from his hand, mindful to create canopies overhead.

“I swear, we have the crappy-est luck,” Nougat complained, peering out the aperture.

“Is that even a word,” Panna deadpanned.

Katakuri occupied himself by assembling sets of mochi furniture, meticulously constructing chairs for his younger siblings to sit. A table, and some plates, so he could start crafting desserts utilizing culinary skills befitting their family name. Servings of grilled yakimochi and kinako-flour powdered warabimochi, tricolored hishimochi, or kusamochi green as sparkling emeralds. Katakuri offered handmade treats to cheer up his little brother. There was a lot he could do with his ability, though he could not fix the regrettable lack of steaming matcha tea.

Nougat was grateful though, feeling better already. He pulled down his scarf to eat, the delicious taste lingering on his tongue as he licked his serrated fangs clean of sweet sticky desserts.

Katakuri smiled, hidden beneath folds of cloth, watching his younger siblings enjoy themselves. He did not touch the food he created, he did not eat.

A faraway clock tower rang, informing it was the beginning of a new day. The Charlotte siblings waited out the downpour by having an impromptu midnight snack. It was fortunate the rain did not continue on for too long, though it did turn the forest ground humid with mud, making their trip even more unpleasant. They arrived at a fenced off cemetery a little while later, and encountered the most peculiar sight.

There were hordes of honest-to-god zombies, and they were having a disco dance party.

Panna was pale as milk frosting, about to faint. Katakuri caught her before she collapsed, assisting his little sister as she recomposed herself by taking in deep inhales.

There was a bizarre—lion mink?—man at the forefront, with long blond hair and black overcoat, perching atop the gravestone with a circular cross. Absalom was about to leave when he noticed the three intruders, and immediately turned himself invisible. He would confront those new guests first, before returning to the mansion to wake up the general zombies.

Katakuri might have lost visual of the mink-man, but he could still track his presence, crimson gaze vigilantly following the potential enemy as he attempted to sneak around. “A devil fruit ability, I presume. You’ve been to our ship a while ago, what it is you want?” Katakuri said, then rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t need to see you to know where you are,” Katakuri replied, before the question was even articulated.

“You can see me?” Absalom belatedly asked, inadvertently exposing his position to the younger Charlotte children as well.

Panna muffled her voice with a gloved hand, giggling softly. “The invisible man is a dumbass,” Panna whispered to Nougat.

Absalom dropped his invisibility act, as he had been found out, and hunched down over a tomb altar. “Are you three with the Strawhat Pirates?”

Panna and Nougat looked to each other in utter confusion. “Who the hell are they?” Nougat asked, extremely offended. He had the Big Mom Pirates insignia on the breast pocket of his cropped jacket, and Brother Katakuri had their family name emblazoned across the shoulder of his leather vest. How in the world were they mistaken for some rookie pirates nobody had even heard of.

Panna winced. She didn’t have the heart to tell her brothers that having shaggy scarfs draped around their necks insured people would not be able to actually see their crew identification on their garment choices. “We have no idea who those straw guys are, mister,” Panna addressed the lion man. She clutched her hands together, in mocked sincerity. “I wouldn’t mind to be known as the Strawberry Pirates though.”

“Ah, I see. You must be the crew from that bread ship Perona told me about, said there is only one recent bounty head. A girl worth forty-two million,” Absalom nodded at Panna appreciatively. “So you the captain? Not going to lie, but I wasn’t expecting someone so cute.”

Panna and Nougat sweat-dropped. Brother Katakuri’s bounty had not been updated in a decade, of course people would not find him in the recent bounties catalog.

Katakuri stepped in before the conversation could further derail into inconsequential numbers. “We are here looking for our sister. A young woman with pink hair, about this tall,” Katakuri motioned a height at around his thigh. “Have you seen her?”

Absalom stared, then barked out a loud guffaw. “I think you people need to understand your precarious situation,” Absalom said, grinning in smug superiority. “Soldier zombies, take them down and get them packaged to Gekko Moriah!” Absalom ordered, going transparent again as his undead army swarmed forward. “I have other more important business to attend to and a wedding to prepare, adios.”

Panna made a face, thoroughly repulsed as the zombies stretched out their rotten arms and cracked fingernails. “Yuck!”

Katakuri sighed. He lifted up a leg and slammed down on the first of those undead troopers with his foot, crushing through spine and decomposing flesh. The zombies were numerous, but little better than cannon fodder, with the tallest not even reaching his waist.

The soldier zombies backtracked.

Nougat unsheathed his katana. “Is it okay to let the mink person leave?” Nougat asked. He ran into the horde of animated corpses without fear, slicing down enemies with quick blade work.

Katakuri stayed back, allowing his little brother to play with the zombies as training exercise. “It’s fine, we know where he is going,” Katakuri glanced at the mansion up ahead. “Pay attention to your opponents, Nougat.”

At the admonition, Nougat realized that his slash hadn’t worked at all. The zombies he cut were putting themselves back together, unkillable like the homies back home.

“What are you going to do now?” Katakuri asked, then hummed in approval. “Very good.”

Nougat lowered his body into a crouching stance, then twirled himself like a spinning top. He whipped out a wide range aerial slash to hack off zombies ankles, depriving them all the ability to stand, compressed wind cutting through stones and bones. Katakuri and Panna of course evaded the indiscriminate attack no problem, but a pained yelp from behind broken debris informed them that a certain bystander was not as blessed.

“What was that!” Nougat exclaimed.

An old man limped into view, heavily injured with bandages over his arms and torso. His left leg was bleeding, from Nougat’s haphazard assault.

“There are a lot of people watching us back in the forest,” Katakuri told his younger siblings. “I was wondering when they would make a move.”

The old man wheezed, lighting up a lamp by his side. Katakuri immediately frowned when he saw the man had no shadow.

“Start talking,” Katakuri said.

Old man began to sob. “We lost our shadows to the Warlord Gekko Moriah,” Spoil cried, tears streaming down his face. “This is our lucky day, your young captain promised to take him down. He is our savior, he must be unbelievably powerful to command such strong supporters.”

Panna blinked, thinking she must have skipped over part of the conversation, since she had absolutely no idea what the old man was babbling about. “You completely lost me. What?”

Spoil nodded to himself, wanting to express his utmost gratitude. “Your captain and crew are searching all over for the three of you,” he said, patting Nougat encouragingly on the forearm. “A boy, a man, and a woman. That was what they told us, of their missing crew members. I could see they were truly worried, ah, beautiful friendship.”

Nougat pulled his arm away, somewhat agitated. Panna was growing more confused by the minute, while Katakuri was perplex but curious.

“They have already entered the mansion,” Spoil explained, shaking the luminous gas lantern. “If you hurry up, you can also help take down Moriah.”

“Help take down Moriah,” Nougat repeated slowly, turning quizzically to his older siblings. Nougat and Panna then spontaneously bursted into undignified bouts of laughter.

“No, sorry. You really have it all wrong,” Panna chortled, shaking her head. “We don’t do charity. I mean seriously, who do you think we are?”

“Umm,” the wrinkly old man said, slightly puzzled. “Aren’t you the Strawberry Pirates, followers of the Strawhat Pirates? It’s hot topic among us Victim's Association, I am the chairman by the way. Talks is spreading all over this island barque as we speak, through our information network.”

Nougat facepalmed, letting out a suffering groan. “This is getting ridiculous,” Nougat hissed, stomping the ground in contempt. “The hearsay has to stop. Who the fuck is this group of straw hats, and since when did we somehow randomly become their followers? The fuck?”

“You know what they say about rumor mill,” Panna huffed, equally exasperated.

Katakuri sighed. “Bad timing, but we have something else to be concerned about,” Katakuri said, glancing up with a small tilt of his head.

Nougat and Panna followed their older brother’s line of sight, on cue to see a bright pink flare signal shot into the sky. Their ship was under attack.

“What now?” Nougat asked.

“I’ll need to go back to our ship, make sure the crew is alright,” Katakuri replied, contemplating the circumstance. “Do you want to accompany me back, or do you want to go on ahead?”

“I’m pressing forward, Brother Katakuri,” Nougat said confidently, standing tall and puffing out his chest. “I am old enough to handle myself.”

“Good. And you, Panna?”

Panna crossed her arms. “I want to get out of this horrid place, but I’m not letting my little brother venture into the spooky unknown alone,” Panna said, walking up to stand beside Nougat. “Guess that means we’ll see you later, Brother Katakuri.”

Katakuri nodded, trusting his younger siblings to take care of themselves and each other. A short goodbye, and the Charlotte children went their temporary separate ways.

Nougat and Panna strolled through a set of wrought iron gate, approaching the forbidding manor. Lock on the mahogany double-door was already broken, but Panna paid no heed, shoving the entire thing down with a simple push.

”If we run into those straw hat fellas, I am going to dissect them slowly,” Nougat muttered. “For the stupid mix-up, followers my ass.”

Panna shrugged, “Why not.”

They’d killed for less.

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine the clickbait headline ‘Big News’ Morgans could spin if he got wind of this shit haha. That one time Strawhats maybe perchance somehow accidentally acquired three combatants waaay above their current pay grade lol


	3. Gift

**Gift**

Katakuri went back on the same path, through the disturbing underground entrance hall. Stepping into the entryway, Katakuri encountered the previously missing guard as the creature was returning to the stationed post. It was a stitched-together cerberus, approximately the size of a regular household dog compared to the Sweet Commander’s towering height, making it not very threatening at all.

The zombie cerberus gave Katakuri one terrified glance, whimpered, then knew to hastily back off cowering into a corner.

Katakuri tilted his head and considered. Without warning, he threw out copious amount of adhesive mochi threads to net the creature in his clutch. The cerberus howled in agitated dismay, struggling pitifully in vain. Mama liked to collect exotic beings from around the world, a three-headed fox hound should be unusual enough to make the cut.

Katakuri made it back to the docking area, to see chaos spilling across the upper decks. The enemies here were even more bizarre than the animated human corpses in the graveyard, with creatures that somewhat resembled patchwork animals. They were using the largest ship as platform for rope launchers to bind his bread-themed vessel farther away, drifting on gentle waves, since that ship did not moor to the port.

New World pirate crew normally would not do so bad against typical Paradise fodders, even when overwhelmed by three times the opposing number. The person to level the playing field was this goth girl in pink, commanding zombie troops from the safety of the smallest ship, with her ability to manipulate tricky spectres that effortlessly dropped half the enemy combatants to their knees. The only remaining effective front-line fighting force were two Knight Chess peacekeepers specially brought from Tottoland, immune to the mysterious girl’s spirit power due to homies having no will of their own. Hence the impasse, where neither side could take the other down.

Metallic sound of jangling spurs was the telltale sign indicating a new arrival, drawing everyone else’s attention. Perona reacted swiftly when she saw the man—almost as tall as Gekko Moriah, albeit more attractive by miles—with matching black pink aesthetic as her own. In a different circumstance, Perona might be open to the idea of knowing the man better over fine wine and muted candlelight, but this was a battlefield, so she summoned a barrage of ‘Negative Hollows’ to quickly subdue this unanticipated adversary.

The man kicked the ground once and disappeared, his speed too fast for her eyes to catch.

“Your ghosts are troublesome, but you are very slow,” Katakuri stated calmly. He was standing on the sunflower ship, behind the girl, levitating globs of spheroid mochi into the air.

Perona swirled around, startled. She immediately sent out dozens of ‘Mini Hollow’s in conjunction with her negative ghosts, for maximum offensive firepower. Perona snapped her fingers to cause a massive combined detonation ...

... only to realize the hollow explosions were all carefully contained within floating white food stuff, harmlessly neutralized. The guy had answers in place before she even used her ability. How? Perona bit her lips, distraught. She was tasked with the simple assignment to plunder unmanned vessels, she wasn’t expecting to run into some no-name pirate capable of countering her every move.

“So, you are that Warlord’s lackey,” Katakuri observed, hip leaning against the staircase banister on the unusual grassland deck. He crossed his arms. “What should I do with you.”

.

Nougat and Panna didn’t know what they were expecting upon entering the mansion, but definitely not a lobby that looked akin to the aftermath of a war zone. Overturned tables and splintered chairs, shredded paintings and broken frames, carpet and rugs torn into ribbons.

“Did we miss the tea party, or is the decoration here just strange?” Nougat murmured, poking at an oversized sock puppet on the floor.

“Hard to say,” Panna said. She motioned to the set of stone stairs beside the sooty fireplace, leading up to an archway above the mantelpiece. “Let’s try that way. Nougat, you go first.”

“Why? You’re stronger than me.”

“... but I’m scared,” Panna said, petulantly sticking out her tongue.

So Nougat went first. The adjoining corridor had a relatively lower ceiling. Panna standing at almost three meters in height could still comfortably pass through, but it was fortunate Brother Katakuri had not come with them, him being slightly too tall.

There were sounds of tiny feet scurrying across floor and walls in the dimly lit path. Panna caught movement from the corner of her eye. Immediately her face paled, and she clung onto Nougat in a death grip.

“What is it?” Nougat asked, startled by his sister.

“S-s-spiders,” Panna stuttered. “Huge spiders, the size of my hand.”

“... Sister Panna, you’re hurting me,” Nougat was wincing. Panna’s claws had torn the thick fabric of his jacket, if she gripped any harder he was going to bruise.

“Oh, oh! Sorry!” Panna let go of her little brother, somewhat embarrassed.

Just then, the building trembled, accompanied by distant rumbling of collapsing gravel, before coming to an eerie stillness. The background noise of small creatures hidden in the shadows quietened. Nougat steadied himself, on alert. “Earthquake?”

Panna shook her head. She had more experience in general warfare, thus made a very different association. “I believe something just exploded,” Panna said, with an uncertain frown on her face. “But that wasn’t the sound of cannon fire.”

Unbeknownst to them, Franky of the Strawhat Pirates had just destroyed the connecting bridge between two mansions with his ‘Coup De Vent’ technique, hurling an army of general zombies crashing to the ground floor. Nougat and Panna continued on their way, going through maze tunnels that twisted and turned. They were basically lost, when they heard the soft enchanting echo of a singing tenor from beyond a barricading wall.

Nougat plastered himself flat against the rough structure, ear pressed against stone. “Do you hear that?” Nougat whispered. “It’s beautiful.”

Charlotte children loved good songs.

“We should go find out who it is!” Panna exclaimed, pulling a fist. “Stay back, Nougat. I’m breaking down this wall.”

Nougat leaped back just as Panna threw her punch, smashing through solid concrete and steel rebar, because Charlotte daughters averaged a slightly better strength feat than Charlotte sons thanked to their Mama’s genes. It opened up into a spacious foyer area, and a balcony that leaded to the back of the building.

They heard the distinctive clicking of firing pin and the hushed sound of blade sliding from scabbard, just as the dust settled.

.

Franky and Robin were about to part ways with Brook the humming skeleton, when their fleeting farewell was interrupted by booming commotion from behind. An entire stretch of concrete wall crumbled down, throwing dust and debris into the air. Franky aimed his Weapons Left, Robin raised her hands, and Brook leveled his sword. They were prepared to confront more belligerent zombies.

A boy and an extremely tall young woman came into view, both very much alive. It was unexpected, but the Warlord should have at least a few living crew members. Franky fired his large-caliber artillery, wanting to end the skirmish before more undead reinforcements show up to aid the enemy.

The boy took a single step forward and slashed out his blade in a quick draw, diverting the cannon ball same way Zoro would when defending _Thousand Sunny_. The woman with beast claws then jumped, taking advantage of the capacious atrium to skip in rapid succession through the air, in a maneuver Franky and Robin recognized only too well.

“Is that...?” Franky gasped, before he was kicked in the face and sent crashing into the wall.

Robin sprouted thirty arms, using ‘Treinta Fleur’ combining into six larger limbs to grab the taller girl, compensating for their differences in size. “Moriah’s crew? Or are you affiliated with the Government?” Robin asked cautiously. She tried to hold the girl down, but was slowly failing as she felt strong resistance straining against her arms.

“Neither,” Panna answered honestly, then grinned. “Interesting ability,” Panna offered an ingenuous praise, before freeing her hands with superior brute force and seized the slender arms attempting to bend back her neck.

Robin winced, releasing her devil fruit power before the girl could crush the bones on both her wrists.

“Look out, Miss Robin!” Brook exclaimed, breaking her concentration. He pushed Robin down, to protect her with his skeleton composition, just as razor wind carved a deep groove through the floor. Robin would have been grievously wounded if Brook hadn’t acted when he did.

Nougat brandished his katana. “Get your hands off my sister,” he growled.

Robin stood, preparing to attack again, but the girl disappeared, moving extraordinarily fast to capture her from behind. Another familiar set of skills.

“Do not move,” Panna warned, angling her sharp talons across the woman’s neck.

“You know Cipher Pol techniques.”

“A couple, you can say,” Panna concurred easily. “‘Moonwalk’ and ‘Shave’ are not uncommon where we come from though, but we are the furthest from those government dogs as anyone can get.”

Robin nodded, adjusting her body language as she changed tactics, to make herself appear less outwardly antagonistic. She was beginning to understand the situation, and there was more than one way to subdue her enemies. “Are you also pirates lured into this place?”

“We are pirates, yes, but we come here on our own volition to find our sister,” Panna replied. “She has been missing for three years, but we have reasons to believe she could be here.”

Robin chose her words carefully. “If your sister is here, chances are she is another victim with shadow stolen. In that case, we actually have a common enemy.”

“What do you mean?” Nougat asked, already lowering his weapon.

Franky picked himself up from the rubble two minutes later, nursing concussion and a bruised ego, to find the fight was already over. Robin had somehow managed to talk the two aggressive kids down via the power of words alone, because even monstrously strong children were susceptible to skillful manipulation.

“I cannot believe Gekko Moriah is such an asshole, attacking our sister when she was alone and defenseless!” Panna shouted, waving around her enormous claws.

“Here I thought we should leave the man alone, due to his history with Kaido and that recent thing with Whitebeard. Enemy of our enemies and all that,” Nougat grumbled. “Looks like that just got tossed out the window.”

Panna nodded her agreement. “He is like that guy, who kept messing with all the wrong crews.”

“Yohohoho~ Does this mean we’re all friends now?” Brook asked, tipping his head back and looked up, unused to stumble upon women taller than himself. “In that case, may I see your panties, young lady?”

Panna was taken aback, bewildered. Nougat punched Brook in the stomach area. “Don’t perv on my sister, pervert!”

“Yohohoho~!” Brook laughed.

Franky walked up to them. “What’s going on? Did I miss something?”

“Nothing too important,” Robin replied, with a soft smile. “We will go back to the Sunny, as Brook had advised. Get everyone ready.”

“Panna and I will keep going forward,” Nougat announced, gesturing at the spiderweb bridge that leaded to the next building. “Moriah brought harm to our family by going after our sister, that is an offense we never forgive easily.”

“I will be going forward as well,” Brook said, adjusting his bowler hat. “Retrieving my shadow is top priority for me.”

Franky and Robin nodded. They watched the three unlikely companions leave, before turning around themselves to take the shortcut downstairs. “How did you know that their sister was also kidnapped?” Franky asked Robin.

“I don’t. It is just a convenient excuse to get them off our backs,” Robin replied. “They’re not exactly easy to take down, but now we have two more potential allies on our side.”

Franky stared, humphed. “Oh man, remind me to never get on your bad side.”

Robin chuckled.

.

Brook walked with Nougat and Panna towards the stairwell that would take him back up to the tower lab, where he had previously fallen from after suffering his second defeat at his zombie’s copied swordsmanship. The two children kept throwing him curious glances as they came nearer their destination.

“Is there something on my face? —not that I have a face to begin with, yohoho~!”

“Are you the person who was singing just now?” Nougat abruptly blurted out, his eyes sparkling in overflowing excitement. “ _Binks’ Sake_ , I know the lyrics anywhere!”

“Well, yes,” Brook replied. “I am Brook, musician of the Rumbar Pirates, the crew that brought a smile to every child through music.”

“That is awesome!” Panna laughed, clapping her hands in joy. “Our family love musicals, a lot of our older brothers and sisters have fabulous singing voices. Our Mama is partial to opera, but she taught us all sorts of songs. Food and music, the most important things in life!”

“And we have these amazing tea parties every other week,” Nougat added. “Outstanding food and great music, people bringing presents from all over the world for our Mama. It is the best!”

“Sound like quite a lively bunch, yohoho—”

—SLINK!

A flash of blade, cutting cleanly through cervical vertebrae. Nougat bisected the skeleton’s neck region with a deliberately timed slash, when the living dead man dropped his guard. Brook’s afro skull flew through the air, landing with a thump on the flat of Nougat’s drawn weapon.

“Huh?” Brook gaped.

“I’m glad you agree with our tea parties, Brook the singing skeleton,” Nougat said, balancing the talking skull on the tip of his katana. “Since I am thinking of bringing you as a special guest.”

Panna grabbed the bony lower half, lifting Brook’s spiny body off the floor. She held it slightly away from herself— “eww, dead people” —though enough to quell an escape attempt. Brook was shocked, having no idea what had just occurred.

“You will make a great present, for our Mama’s collection,” Panna beamed, her delight genuine in her innocent cruelty.

The best deception was when everything they said were technically true. Charlotte children might be immature kids liable to exploitation from a certain perspective, this subtle mental weakness shared by even their matriarch, but they were also children from a family that routinely practiced the art of deceit. A paradox, like the wonderland honey trap that was Tottoland.

Nougat bounced the severed head like a ball, then spun it on his fingertip, making Brook dizzy. “So are we going to get the guy’s shadow, or...?”

Panna considered, thoughtfully inspecting the gangly carcass in her grasp. “Nah. I’m sure Brother Mont-d’Or has a book storing nocturnal creatures, the skeleton will be fine,” Panna replied. “Besides, we shouldn’t provoke a Warlord without Mama giving us the okay. You know the Government is sensitive about these sort of things.”

“What about Sister Lola?”

Panna bit her cheeks, feeling conflicted. “I don’t know. We should get Brother Katakuri informed first though, let him decide.”

Nougat had no objection, that did seem like the best course of action. He approached the stairwell that would take them back down to ground level, when he heard faint echoes of clanking metal boots and rusty armor, heavy swords scraping across weathered cobblestone floor. Nougat paused, silently glancing at his sister. They had company.

It was an entire army of undead mob, waiting on standby for them around the next corner, behind the mahogany double doors. The general zombies Franky had sent plummeting down by destroying the bridge were now back, each one significantly stronger than the pushover soldier zombies the Charlotte siblings had thus far encountered, with bountied shadows animating these corpses. To make matters even more serious, the advancing horde outnumbered them forty to one.

Nougat cast aside the afro skull and readied his blade. Panna dropped the cadaver serving as hindrance, then crooked her menacing claws.

It would not be an easy battle.

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Antagonists will be antagonistic. Charlotte children are generally, not very nice.
> 
> .
> 
> Panna, about Moriah: “He is like that guy, who kept messing with all the wrong crews.”
> 
> (Somewhere, Luffy sneezed.)


	4. Entertainment

**Entertainment**

Seven crewmen were wounded during the tussle with the ghost girl and her undead troops. They were quarantined and treated in the infirmary, because Katakuri’s subordinates insisted zombie virus was absolutely real based on evidence recorded in outlandish fictional sci-fi novels.

Katakuri humored them. It was always better to be cautious when dealing with mysterious unknown in this world, though it was somewhat troubling, as they were now running low on disinfectant and antibiotics. If another among his crew took a life-threatening injury, it was very possible they would not have enough medical resources for decent treatment. Katakuri thus could not afford another attack on their ship in his absence. It was never fun managing an entire ship by himself with no crew on call, since Nougat and Panna were both too young to rely on for such menial physical labour. Turned out, it was necessary for Katakuri to stay here on guard patrol after all.

It wasn’t a complete waste of time at the very least. Katakuri watched the homie peacekeepers leading the cerberus away on steel chains, to be caged in the hardtack-reinforced brig. Katakuri had a habit to always prepare for the worst nowadays. Securing a gift for Mama to pacify her volatile mood in advance would be the logical plan, on the off chance his mission ultimately ended in failure.

A crewman of the longleg tribe tentatively came up to his slightly taller commander, saluted, before hesitantly asking a question. Truth was, none of them liked to be skeptical of their superiors, even when certain actions taken seemed doubtful at first. “Sir? May I ask, why did you allow the girl to leave with that vampire bat thing?”

Katakuri paid the man little heed, as he listened to the sound of sea waves rocking against starboard. He should probably find a way to moor their ship, in case of unforeseeable disturbance that move the island barque. “Certain recent events put me at a precarious position,” he replied. “I want to avoid direct confrontation with Moriah, and harming his crew would only be counterproductive.”

Katakuri left the man to ponder on his words and headed to the stern, assessing how those two other ships were trapped in oversized spiderwebs. That was a pragmatic solution, so Katakuri spread his palm, mimicking with his devil fruit ability to form a mochi web of his own. Sturdy adhesive edible threads pulled taut, anchoring their ship to the mobile island.

A couple animal zombies came back again, just after Katakuri finished the work. Different ones though, as they were much smaller in size and they carried with them three bodies. Katakuri knew they were alive, since he could sense life presence with his observation haki, though dulled due to apparent unconsciousness. The small pet zombies freaked out when they saw the ‘Strawberry Pirates’ crew still very much intact and active, and they ditched their living cargoes before running off in fright.

Three sleeping boys with no shadows were dumped on the port, all of them around Panna’s age with shorter-than-average human height. A brunet, a blond, and a green-head. There should be a joke somewhere in this setup, and a bad punchline for entertainment. The brunet boy had a straw hat on a string around his neck though, so he must be the person falsely rumored to be that alleged ‘boy captain’ of his, it was fortunate Katakuri found the misunderstanding amusing rather than insulting.

“Who are you?” Katakuri wondered, then almost couldn’t help but smile to himself, when forewarn echo of a declaration from the future rang clearly in his mind, like the answer to his inquiry. “—Pirate King?” Katakuri asked, upstarts these days came in all shapes and flavors, optimistic in a way that was bordering on comical due to its inevitable tragic nature. Katakuri himself had already crushed too many youthful dreams.

The cheetah mink crew-woman on deck duty came over, to glance at the boys, so vulnerable in their weakened state. She licked her paws, asked, “What should we do with them, Lord Katakuri?”

Katakuri hummed, but did not immediately reply. His attention turning to the forlorn island barque, and thought of costume parties that always ended in bloodshed. Distant rumble of infrastructure crumbling could be heard carrying by the wind, and then the booming declaration, boisterously loud with an air of arrogant confidence so needed to survive the seas.

‘Special Zombie’ Oars, after five hundred years of post-mortem slumber, woken by bearing the vigour of Monkey D Luffy’s shadow, screamed into the heavens.

“I WILL BE THE PIRATE KING!”

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extremely short update, but this chapter HAS to end here, with that declaration. btw, have I mentioned how much I love Katakuri’s talent to mimic?


	5. Appetizer

**Appetizer**

Franky and Robin ran into Usopp and Chopper on the way downstairs, just as they were getting ambushed by soldier zombies. Franky and Robin rescued their friends, putting to good use their new knowledge of zombies weakness to salt, and purified the large horde. Nami was missing though, which was rather troubling. The four Strawhats headed back to _Thousand Sunny_ together. Upon arriving at the abandoned port, they saw a foreign vessel they did not recognize also trapped in spiderwebs. It was the weirdest ship they had ever seen, made of pastries with colorful sugar frostings.

Chopper’s mouth watered, drawn towards the ship with sweet delectable fragrance. Usopp quickly grabbed onto the reindeer before he could wander off. “We need to keep focus! There’s no telling who could be on that suspicious—”

BANG!

A fruit pyrene bullet shot at their feet, missing by mere centimeters. Usopp and Chopper jumped, their faces turning pale. A cheetah with braids and crocheted beanie glared at them from the bread ship promenade deck, a pistol in hand, wearing a loose blouse that had the letters BMP written in dazzling neon red. “Who goes there?”

“We mean no harm,” Robin replied, coming forward. She was the most diplomatic of the Strawhats, and wanted to prevent another encounter from escalating into needless conflict.

“There is a talking cheetah,” Usopp whispered wobbly behind her. Franky lifted an eyebrow.

Before the feline woman could respond, an odd chess piece with stallion features marched up to her, to deliver a simple message. The cheetah tsked, putting away her pistol, then turned to the Strawhat Pirates. “If you’re looking for a couple unconscious kids, they are over here resting in our infirmary,” she stated, baring carnivorous fangs in obvious displeasure. “Our commander grants you permission to come on board, but don’t you dare touch anything!”

Robin gave her friends a quick glance. It could be a trap, but they didn’t have a choice if their captain and crew were indeed already captured.

Franky shrugged. “Ladies first.”

Robin nodded, walking up the gangway. Franky followed suit after her, with Usopp and Chopper nervously bringing up the rear. Those kids they met back in the mansion must be from this crew, Robin realized, as she stepped onto a surprisingly normal wooden deck. She searched around for their jolly roger, but the main sails were folded, and an unfortunate lack of wind caused their pirate flag to hung limp and unidentifiable.

Everything was scaled to accommodate extreme height differences on this strange ship. The bulwark was as tall as Franky, with an elevated border hedge for shorter crew members to stand on. The cheetah woman hopped off the hedge, exchanging lookout shifts with two human men, so she could personally lead the Strawhat crew to the ship infirmary. The doughnut quarterdeck had large doors equipped with double handles suited for people at different eye levels. The need for this became apparent when one door opened from inside and a gigantic man with disproportionate long legs came into view, almost five meters tall, with elaborated tribal tattoos on his exposed thighs.

“Lord Katakuri is at the sickbay, remaking the beds,” the man grumbled, addressing his cheetah partner. “Straw hat boy ate the rice cake mattress in his sleep. I swear, that brat has an appetite akin to Lord Nougat.”

The Strawhat Pirates sweat-dropped when they heard that. These people had unknowingly laid Luffy on top of food, no wonder they would end up with furniture getting demolished.

The longleg man gazed downward to glower at the four unwanted guests, before moving reluctantly out of the way.

The ward was more crowded than the upper deck, and again designed to fit people of different body sizes. Several wounded men getting bandages with IV lines on their arms, most of them humans varying from standard to significantly taller in height. The ship doctor was a human woman with magenta corkscrew curls. She was tending to an injured black furred—goat?—on a cot closer to the window, the animal for some reason had sunglasses on indoors. Why was this crew so weird?

The Strawhat Pirates saw their captain and crew resting on the farthest beds. They smiled and let out a relief breath, hurrying over to their friends. Luffy was still asleep, but did not stop chewing through his edible sheets.

“We tried everything, but they wouldn’t wake up,” the woman doctor said, clipboard in hand.

“I have an idea,” Franky said, cracking his knuckles.

“That won’t work,” a deep baritone sounded from behind, interrupting the brutal beatdown about to take place.

The Strawhats swirled around, having completely missed the individual sitting cross-legged in the shadow. Another absurdly tall man, clad in tight leather outfits and contrasting pink tattoos, heavy scarf obscuring half of his face, and short burgundy hair. Usopp and Chopper clung on to each other, this man was definitely the most intimidating one on this ridiculous rainbow food ship.

Katakuri turned his crimson eyes to the darker-skinned boy with long nose. “Yours will.”

Usopp wanted to faint, upon being directly addressed by such a scary man, but he swallowed suppressing his fears. Usopp was unsure what the man meant though, so he looked around, to see that woman doctor had gone back to the black goat. He suddenly had a brilliant idea.

“There is a hot lady doctor treating a swordsman made of meat!” Ussop declared loudly, at his sleeping friends.

“Hot lady?” Sanji lifted his head.

“Swordsman?” Zoro was instantly on high alert.

“MEAT!” Luffy shouted, bouncing out of bed, before immediately raising a fist. “Damn bastard, stealing my shadow!”

“Calm down, Moriah isn’t here!” Franky held his captain down so Luffy would not cause a ruckus on other people’s ship.

“Keep quiet, this is the hospital,” the goat person grunted from the next cot.

Luffy blinked in confusion. “Where are we? Why is there a black goat?”

The furry man leaped up at once, affronted. He ignored his injuries, brandishing a shamshir blade shaped like the curve horns on his head. “I am a sable antelope mink, you little shit!”

Zoro’s hand gripped the hilt of his sword on reflex. Someone shouted a warning, people grabbing daggers and rifles from underneath their beds, the cheetah mink pulled out her cutlass. Sanji lit a cigarette and turned into a love-struck whirlwind for the pretty doctor, but the woman aimed a handgun at his forehead. Franky and Robin prepared for another fight, the situation descending rapidly into madness. Usopp and Chopper’s mouths opened in a silent scream.

“Stop.”

A quiet soft-spoken word, shattering the tension, effect immediate when everyone on the Sweet Commander’s personal crew promptly lowered their weapons. The antelope mink trembled, “L-Lord Katakuri, I... I apologize.”

“We’re not fighting in the infirmary ward,” Katakuri said. He glanced at the cheetah woman. “Fetch the chef and get the seaking steaks in storage cooked. Feed this kid before he starved.”

Luffy’s stomach growled as if on cue, but Robin was suspicious of such generosity. “Are you sure?” Robin asked, “Our captain has quite an appetite.”

The doctor grimaced. “Lord Katakuri is only using this excuse to empty our freezer,” she explained in hushed murmur. “Lord Nougat and Lady Panna don’t like salty foods. Meat is mostly indulgence for us underlings, good while it lasted.”

Katakuri stood. “We will continue this discussion outside, let my crew have their rest,” Katakuri said, turning to the small raccoon-like creature that was discreetly inching towards a bed. “You can have the cushion.”

Chopper jumped, mortified at being found out. He nodded shyly, and took the sweet-smelling pillow stuffed with delicious sugar marshmallows.

This whole ship made Sanji queasy, as they all followed the tall man to the upper deck. It had a standard wooden core that made up the bulk, but was reinforced by hardtack biscuit inner-lining, pastry decorations, mochi fenders, and transparent candy panels instead of glass windows. The sickbay cots were made of rice cake and marshmallows, chairs were bagels and tables were baguettes. Sanji wanted to scream just thinking about the amount of food going to waste, for purpose other than being served on a plate...

... even the plates were made from food, unusually compact kakumochi cut in square designs, to hold slabs of grilled seaking meat. Luffy dug into his late night snack without care, Sanji pinched his brows. He knew he should be grateful for this unexpected hospitality, but it was still difficult keeping his irritation under control, made worse because Nami was absent for reasons unknown.

“I want information,” Katakuri stated bluntly. He was not offering anything for free. “Tell me everything you know about this island barque, zombies, Gekko Moriah, and the connection with missing shadows.”

The Strawhats looked to their captain, waiting for his decision. Luffy swallowed a mouthful, his guileless eyes watching Katakuri intently. “Okay,” Luffy said, grinning wide. “You don’t seem like a bad guy.”

“... I appreciate the sentiment,” Katakuri replied, and then his gaze turned expectedly towards Franky and Robin.

Franky was not sure how much he should reveal, so he only told the man about Moriah’s devil fruit ability and zombies weakness to salt, opting to reserve Brook’s heartfelt story for later. Robin was thinking the same. To play it safer, Robin mentioned the two kids they ran into some time ago.

“Panna and Nougat are my younger siblings, you don’t need to worry about them,” Katakuri told the woman. “They’re fairly strong in their own right.”

That confirmed Robin’s suspicion of them being from the same crew.

“I might have another sister on this island barque though,” Katakuri continued. “Name is Lola, she is an attractive young woman with pink hair. Do you know anything about her?”

Sanji perked up, interested. Franky and Robin though shook their heads. Usopp and Chopper paused however, feeling that name was somewhat familiar, yet could not recall from where. Just then, a crewman came over with a burlap sack containing the sea salt Usopp had requested, inadvertently interrupted his internal musing. The man threw the sack at Usopp’s head in a rather impolite manner, frustration evident in his brusque action, before stomping away.

“What is his deal?” Usopp grumbled.

The cheetah woman gave him a nasty glare. “You people appearing out of nowhere and ate our entire meat stock, now you plundered our salt. You are essentially forcing us to live on sugar for the next month, and you wonder why we’re pissed off?”

Usopp yelped, ducking behind Franky.

Luffy laughed. “I can’t imagine what it is like to have five meals without meat. Must be torture.”

“YOU’RE THE REASON WE ARE IN THIS MESS TO BEGIN WITH!” Big Mom Pirates hollered in unison.

Katakuri turned away from his agitated crew. A lack of animal protein did not bother him, being among the select few who could happily survive on only sugar due to his Charlotte appetite. Katakuri was the real culprit that allowed the whole looting to happen of course, but pretended this predicament had absolutely nothing to do with him.

“Yosh,” Luffy declared, standing up. He grabbed the bread table and mochi plates, putting the entire meat banquet into his mouth and swallowed. “I’m ready to kick Moriah’s ass now! We need to get our shadows back, and find Nami!”

Sanji bursted into an inferno upon hearing about Nami’s supposed marriage, already preparing to rush back into the Warlord’s territory. The seven Strawhats split into three teams, between Nami’s wedding and Brook’s shadow and Moriah himself. They had no time to fool around.

Usopp and Zoro were the last ones to leave. Usopp had a foot over the railings before turning around again. “What about you guys?” Usopp asked the bread ship squad, but mainly directing his question at the introvert gothic man. “You have missing crew members, too. So aren’t you going to do something about this situation?”

Zoro scowled. “We don’t need help from—”

“No,” Katakuri interrupted before the young man could finish that rather unflattering statement. He knew his subordinates would not react well if they heard insult slandering his title, unintentional as it might be, and excessive animosity would benefit nobody. “I will not fight Gekko Moriah, because taking out government lapdogs at this awkward timing would only serve as unnecessary lucky convenience for an enemy. Pretty foolish in this case, to waste my energy.”

Zoro rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Do not be presumptuous about my ability, just because I choose to avoid conflict for now,” Katakuri calmly finished. “I _can_ take down your entire crew, if you gave me a reason to do so.”

Zoro gripped his sword, eyes hard and knuckles turning white, he did not take kindly to thinly veiled threats. Usopp gulped, watching with trepidation between Zoro and Katakuri. Their temporary impasse stretched, until wind picked up, breaking the oppressive suffocating atmosphere. A pirate flag fluttered in the breeze.

Usopp and Zoro soon left, catching up to their friends. Usopp let out a huge sigh of relief, Zoro however was frowning.

“That was actually kind of scary. I wonder if he is really as strong as he says, or just all bark and no bite,” Usopp said. “Umm, you seem anxious?”

Zoro kept his focused gaze up ahead. “I used to be a bounty hunter, back in the day. There are some flags I recognize.”

“What does that mean?”

“Doesn’t matter, we’ll deal with it later. Moriah is our primary problem for now.”

Luffy caught the tail end of their conversation and gave Zoro a questioning glance, but didn’t ask him to elaborate. They went separated ways at the bottom of a huge staircase, Zoro and Franky went along the bridge passage to the garden, while the other Strawhats headed up towards the Warlord’s chamber, taking down numerous soldier zombies blocking their path.

That was when the ceiling suddenly collapsed.

.

Panna and Nougat fought through many general zombies during this time, before the rest were called off by their superior to attend an oddly timed wedding. Panna and Nougat were confused by this, but were glad for a break. Zombies could not be killed, so they had to exert additional effort to vivisect every single one of them, just to make sure the undead army would not get back up anew. The singing skeleton had escaped while the siblings were preoccupied, unfortunately.

“What now?” Panna asked.

Nougat picked up the decapitated head of a general zombie. “I really want that skeleton. Good thing we know exactly where he is going, for his shadow,” Nougat said, shaking the dismantled head. “You will tell us where that skeleton’s zombie is.”

That poor bodiless corpse was pressured by the Charlotte siblings into spilling everything about Ryuma, famous Wano samurai zombie, when the building violently shook. It was ‘Special Zombie’ Oars jumping down from _Thriller Bark_ central mast, its massive physique destroying the back bridge when it landed.

“What was that?” Nougat exclaimed. “Is it another bomb? Is this place under attack?”

Panna steadied herself. “I can’t say.”

The shaking stopped. Panna and Nougat waited a few more minutes on alert, before concluding that there was no immediate danger. They turned back to the cadaver victim they were interrogating. That samurai zombie turned out to be at a different mansion steeple, a long way away.

They spent another ten or so minutes trying to navigate their way through the maze-like corridors, but soon found themselves once again completely lost. Panna was quickly losing patience, when the building shook again, throwing the two Charlotte children off their feet. This time it was Oars playing with the island barque rudder.

“The constant earthquakes are annoying,” Panna pouted, massaging her hips. “The lab is on top of another tower, it will be much easier to just go the aerial route.”

“Are you sure?” Nougat asked. “I’m about sixty kilograms of additional weight.”

“Pfft. That’s barely anything, I can manage,” Panna winked, spreading her arms wide. “Now come here, little brother. Give your sister a hug.”

Nougat groaned, like the long-suffering younger brother he was, before stepping closer. Panna picked up her much smaller brother with flourish, hands under knees and behind his back bridal style. Nougat rubbed his throbbing temple, embarrassed and in dismay.

“You’re so cute, Nougat.”

“Shut up.”

Panna giggled. She brought down a nearby wall using basic roundhouse kick, opening up an exit to the outside, then leaped off stamping at the air. Panna carried Nougat into the sky with ‘Moonwalk’ gaining altitude for better view. They both searched around, for one specific pavilion spire distinctively marking the tower lab.

“There, two people are fighting on that roof!” Panna exclaimed. “I see the skeleton. Let’s go—”

“Wait, Sister Panna. Wait a moment,” Nougat said, his tone uncharacteristically quiet, almost in a state of reverence. He stopped his sister with a hand on her shoulder. “I want to see how it goes.”

Panna complied to her little brother’s wish, though puzzled. She maintained a steady pseudo-hover with her legs.

Nougat watched in awe, as Ryuma and Zoro battled on that slanted rooftop. Nougat was trained in this combative art form, he could admire the beauty of expert swordsmanship on display, intense clashing of blades and exchanging blows. The roof was sliced clean in half, two swordsmen leaped, then too soon it was the final strike, hitting home. The samurai zombie burned from a flaming wound, and Zoro emerged the victor, claiming his prize.

“Are you alright, Nougat?” Panna asked, concerned. “You’re trembling.”

Nougat inhaled, slow and deep, his fluffy scarf in disarray due to the wind. There was a very different look to his eyes. “I want to test myself,” Nougat murmured, grip tightened on the sheath of his own katana. He grinned in uncontainable excitement, showing all his sharp piranha teeth.

“I want to challenge my skills against him, that green-head swordsman.”

.

.

 


	6. Salad Selection

**Salad Selection**

Panna carried Nougat towards the destroyed rooftop, skipping gracefully through the air. Easy to spot, since they had no intention to hide.

“They are the children that tall man told us about,” Franky informed his crewmates. He then turned to the approaching siblings, waving his hands. “Oi, do you have any luck finding Moriah?”

Brook was disturbed. “Be careful, don’t get so friendly,” Brook warned, reaching for his concealed weapon. “They were swarmed by general zombies last I saw them.”

Franky was confused by the musician’s cautious attitude, since he did not know the Charlotte siblings had attacked Brook after they parted ways back at the mansion. Zoro was wary for a different reason, being the current only person on this island barque aware of that crew’s true identity. He wasn’t expecting them to be literal kids though, with a skinny boy even physically smaller than Luffy.

Panna chose to take a higher ground and landed on the narrow parapet of sliced off wall, putting her brother down beside her. Nougat gave the surface beneath the singing skeleton’s feet a quick glance. “I see you’ve gotten your shadow back,” Nougat observed offhandedly, before turning to the green-head swordsman sitting at the veranda on a lower level. He unsheathed his blade, straight to the topic. “But now I’m more interested in you. I am Nougat, what is your name?”

Zoro was frowning. He stood up and crossed his arms. “I’m not going to fight a little kid.”

Nougat glared, offended by the dismissive tone. He angled his blade downward to point at the older swordsman. “ _Katakuri Bluhen_ ,” Nougat whispered, then he slashed. Vicious gusts of compressed wind pressure lashed out, blooming as lilac flower petals swirled through the air raining like razor bullets from up high.

Zoro pulled out his sword just in time and deflected the flechette bombardment, but a petal nicked his right cheek, drawing thin coppery lines of blood. The fawnlily blossoms that shot past him gouged into cement on the floor surrounding him, leaving streaks akin to bite marks from hound beasts. Brook’s jawbone fell open comically, astonished at such ferocious showcase of aggressive onslaught. Franky could not believe his eyes.

Panna on the other hand blinked, then she broke down into uncontrollable laughter. “You modeled techniques after our big brother!” Panna shouted in glee, stretching out her hand. A distinctively flexed corolla drifted into her open palm, petals from the beautiful dogtooth violet. “Does he know? I bet he doesn’t, no wonder you never call your attacks when he is around. Na-hahahaha~”

Nougat was absolutely mortified, face heating up, red as ripe tomato. He had overlooked that there was a sibling audience on the scene. “DON’T TELL HIM, SISTER PANNA!” Nougat cried.

“What’s in it for me?” Panna grinned, still giggling.

Nougat groaned, desperately wanting to bury himself into a hole. “I’ll treat you to an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet at Brother Opera’s place.”

“Yay, deal!”

“Promise me to say nothing!”

The Strawhats watched the back and forth between those Charlotte siblings. Franky was puzzled and indecisive, uncertain whether he should bring out his artillery weapons or not. “Are we fighting? Why are we fighting?”

“I’m not so sure,” Brook replied, the kids continued to bicker and tease. “I think they have forgotten about us though.”

Zoro however did not drop his guard. He positioned himself in a ready battle stance, the two swords still in their scabbards softly clicked.

Nougat immediately snapped back into focus, zeroing in on his primary target and the most dangerous adversary on this partially demolished rooftop. “You should not underestimate me, just because I’m a kid,” Nougat advised, balancing himself easily upon the restricted foothold. The tip of his katana trained on the green-headed man.

Zoro tsked, drawing his second sword, Wado Ichimonji on the right and Sandai Kitetsu on the left. “I should’ve expected as much, from one of the most dangerous pirate crews in the world.”

“Oh, you know who we are,” Nougat said, pleased. “Let’s try that again then, shall we. I am Charlotte Nougat, youngest _executive_ of the Big Mom Pirates. You are?”

Zoro clenched his teeth. “Roronoa Zoro, Strawhat Pirates,” he replied.

“Strawhat Pirates?” Nougat was surprised.

“You’ve heard of us?” Franky asked.

“Very recently,” Nougat concurred, his devilish smirk was hidden by bushy white scarf. “I did say I’m going to dissect them slowly if we ever have the misfortune to cross paths.”

“Hey, hold on a minute,” Franky stepped forward, trying to understand what was happening. “I don’t recall our crew having done anything to you?”

Nougat ignored the cyborg man’s inquiry, his attention completely on Zoro now. “Ready to take me seriously?”

Zoro narrowed his eyes.

And then Nougat leaped, bringing his blade down twice in slanted diagonal cuts, forming a sharp V formation that concentrated deadly florets into a single spot. “Katakuri Kralle!” Nougat shouted, taking the initiative.

Zoro jumped also, swinging his swords in upward motion to retaliate, sending out two vertical air projectile slashes as counter-strike. “Nitoryu, Toro!”

Their attacks met in mid-air, exploding in different directions. Half the remaining roof tiles caved in as result of collateral damage, forming a large empty crater between the two young swordsmen, with neither of them physically harmed. Franky was incredulous, feeling absurd that Zoro of all people, would have actual trouble fending off a kid who attacked with seemingly innocuous plants.

Zoro and Nougat leveled their blades, preparing for their second clash...

... when the main structure of the barque mansion crumbled, and a ginormous red-skinned horned creature barged out, charging through stones and forests blocking its path. Sanji somehow emerged from the crushed rubble at that thing’s feet, and then proceeded to brazenly berate the ‘fake-Luffy’ zombie for interfering with his mission to save Nami. Robin, Usopp, and Chopper showed up on the joining bridge. They called out loudly, asking why their friends were on the roof. Zoro scratched his head, distracted by the sudden insanity. Franky was alarmed and Brook was paralyzed in shock, due to the sheer monstrosity of that zombie.

“What the fuck is that?” Nougat exclaimed, sword match also momentarily forgotten. “Look at that huge size, is it also a zombie?”

“It’s hideous,” Panna deadpanned.

Then the creature raised its fists, hollering. “SHOW YOURSELVES, STRAWHAT PIRATES!”

Yikes.

“... At least it is not looking for us, that’s a relief,” Panna offered wearily.

The creature used its hand to swipe at the man in black suit on the ground, missing by a tiny breadth. Sanji ran around, aiming a kick at the zombie’s skull. The Strawhats on the bridge panicked when Sanji was struck down and caught. Panna and Nougat apathetically watched the Strawhat Pirates struggle against that gigantic undead creature, wishing for a popcorn, when Zoro told Franky to shoot at Oars.

“—Don’t drag us into this!” Panna screamed, just as Oars attacked the tower they were gathered on with a dexterous flying kick, causing the entire building to collapse. Panna swiftly carried Nougat into the air, ignoring his disoriented protests. They watched the Strawhat crew getting pummeled from the sky.

“Looks like that thing did your job for you,” Panna said, prancing through the air.

“That is an odd creature. Too bad Brother Katakuri’s battleship is not large enough to hold it,” Nougat murmured. He squirmed in his sister’s arms, trying to get a better view. ‘Special Zombie’ Oars turned its gaze towards the Charlotte siblings after leaving the Strawhat gang in a broken defeated pile, and swatted at them like they were pesky bugs.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Panna hissed, dodging with some difficulties due to the extra weight of her brother limiting her speed. The zombie creature was disconcertingly agile.

“Put me down, Sister Panna,” Nougat said. “I’m going to take out an eye.”

Panna nodded, trusting her brother. She found an opening as she darted over the next attack to drop her brother onto the creature’s outstretched forearm. Nougat climbed onto the zombie’s broad shoulder, and aimed a whirlwind bouquet of flower petals at the ugly stitch-up face. Oars proved to be dauntingly spry however, when it promptly ducked to evade the floral wind cannon, while also throwing Nougat into the air. A gigantic fist came in rapid succession, too fast for Nougat to react, being temporarily immobilized mid-fall. Nougat was about to get wrecked by a ten ton punch, when Panna diverted the zombie’s hand with a calculated hard-hitting kick to the wrist, and then caught Nougat again making a retreat back into the sky.

“I messed up, sorry,” Nougat said. He knew he was not that strong compared to most older siblings within their family, but it was always depressing being reminded of how far he would still need to go, to be qualified as merely halfway decent.

“No need to be sad, Nougat. You’re only fifteen,” Panna consoled. “Let’s just focus on staying alive, for now.”

Oars abandoned pursuit of those annoying flying pests when it noticed disturbance from the ground. The Strawhat Pirates might have suffered bodily wounds after taking a thorough beating, but they were still standing tall with their pride, determined to conduct a counterattack. Panna and Nougat spectated from the relative safety of the sky, how that small crew worked together as a cohesive unit, compensating their lack of absolute strength with great synergy and versatility, to bring the giant zombie down for the very first time.

“Their teamwork is good,” Panna praised.

“Yes, they do,” Nougat agreed.

It wasn’t time to celebrate though, since Oars was not down for the count, even after the Strawhats took advantage of its horns being accidentally stuck nailing into the ground. Oars was already pulling itself together, for round two.

.

“You’re back,” Katakuri said. He sat with long legs crossed on the banister of his own battleship, crimson eyes following the petit ghost girl as she busied herself directing pet animal zombies to load up the sunflower ship.

“I’m not here to fight,” Perona told the man. “I am leaving this place, for good. Don’t stop me!”

Katakuri’s attention was already turning away though. He could sense that someone more significant had just arrived on the scene. Loud commotion sounded from a distance, the largest zombie falling down rocking the entire island barque. This was not a peaceful night.

A girl with orange hair and wedding dress showed up next, standing atop the defensive bulwark overlooking the port. “Stop right there! What are you two doing with my treasure, and our ship?” Nami accused, mistaking Perona and Katakuri as team accomplices due to their complementing pink gothic fashion. “Does your ‘Master Moriah’ know about this?”

Katakuri’s outward expression was carefully neutral, his demeanor perfectly composed, but he had somehow been downgraded _once again_ in a single night from rookie captain follower to government bitch lackey. Katakuri knew he hadn’t caused as much havoc in the recent years as he did during his younger days, keeping himself busy mostly with Tottoland border security and as a consequence out of the newspaper. It wasn’t as if being an emperor commander was a big deal, right. Unbelievable.

Their esteemed visitor decided to finally show up though, so there was that.

Bartholomew Kuma made his entrance by pseudo-teleporting right behind Perona, startling the two girls present. First thing Katakuri noticed was his height, taller than himself at almost seven meters, and holding a book on theology. Very strange for a pirate-turned-privateer.

Katakuri calmly analyzed the exchange between that Warlord and the ghost girl, already foreseeing the short conflict would end in an instant with the girl’s sudden unexplainable disappearance. Katakuri knew next to nothing about Warlord Bartholomew Kuma beforehand, but that simple demonstration was more than enough for Katakuri to figure out the nature of his ability. There was not much that could escape his perceptive observation haki.

Kuma then shifted focus to the man sitting upon the pastry ship taffrail. “Charlotte Katakuri, I was not expecting someone of your caliber here,” Kuma said in his bland monotone. “If you were to travel, where would you like to go?”

Katakuri flicked a jellybean with his thumb. Up, down. Up, down. “I heard through the grapevine that the Government recently caught a big fish, they would need all the military resources at their disposal for the upcoming battle,” Katakuri said passively, catching the candy in his palm. “Not wise, to pick a fight with _me_ now.”

Kuma relented, recognizing a no-win situation when he encountered it.

The estimated disadvantage that marked the gap between their combat capabilities notwithstanding. Big Mom Pirates were as infamous as Whitebeard Pirates when it came to their tendencies to carry out vindictive disproportionate revenge for fallen kins, albeit due to slightly different reasons. World Government could not risk the wrath of a second Sea Emperor, especially when it was someone as emotionally unpredictable as Charlotte Linlin.

So instead, Kuma turned to the young woman navigator. “‘Cat Burglar’ Nami, of the Strawhat Pirates,” Kuma murmured, appearing right next to her. “Is it true that Monkey D Luffy has a brother?”

Nami was honestly scared, her hands trembled as she clung onto her clima-tact. “Y-yes, he does,” she replied. “Ace, right? What about it?”

Katakuri tilted his head. That was a curious piece of information.

Kuma soon left, without providing the navigator any straight answer, vanishing as abruptly as he came, and just as mysterious. Nami was thoroughly terrified by this hapless confrontation, her knees feeling weak. She needed to warn her friends about another dangerous enemy and...

... Nami turned to the strange man on that weird bread ship. A person who could verbally threaten a Warlord without fearing repercussion...?

Just who was that guy?

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nougat is BM Pirates executive, albeit the current youngest and weakest. That still places him above NW fodders, capable of taking down pacifista in groups during marineford war, meaning Nougat at lowest minimum is on same tier as pre-timeskip Zoro. Really put into perspective how ridiculously overpower a yonko crew is compared to Paradise GL. Nougat’s techniques referenced his character design, more detail please read **Family Album** Ch5.
> 
> Panna being scared of zombies is an intentional nerf, because her combat prowess should be near or above pacifista, as scaled to post-timeskip Yuen of the same age. Panna would be too strong an asset if she was proactive.


	7. Sweet Soup

**Sweet Soup**

Panna was getting tired, she would not be able to keep performing ‘Moonwalk’ for long. The dense fog seemed to be lifting though, _Thriller Bark_ having left the protective mist of the Florian Triangle.

It would be morning soon. Panna wanted to cheer at the prospect of sunlight after days wandering in this gloomy stretch of sea, and hours of eerie cemetery land. The red ogre giant was preoccupied fighting the Strawhat Pirates, so Panna seized this chance and made an elegant touchdown among broken debris.

Sanji of course was the first to notice her, due to his innate radar for beautiful women within the vicinity. He twisted and twirled, eager to make an acquaintance.

Panna was a Charlotte child through and through, of the youngest generation where possessing a pretty face could worth more than combative skills. Brother Raisin—one year her senior—seduced a foreign princess six months ago with nothing but a handsome smile and completely faked gallantry, bringing a kingdom to ruin after blood soaked through the royal privy chamber, and as a result acquired his first triple digit million bounty. Panna could do that as well, so she immediately switched on her practiced sugary persona, and welcomed the attention from the shorter blond man.

Sanji was head over heels.

Zoro was not impressed at all with that idiot cook’s antics. “That is not a crew you want to get tangled up with, perverted eyebrows.”

Sanji reacted to the perceived insult, with expected hostility. “Why should I listen to you, moss head!”

“I’m being serious, stupid moron!” Zoro snarled in response, falling back to their routine quarrel.

Nougat shook his head. “Our mission is to find Sister Lola, not expand our crew,” Nougat muttered. “Besides, Mama is not going to let you actually marry.”

Panna shrugged. “Who cares. He’s cute and a chef, ideal as a potential spouse for any of our other unmarried sisters if you asked me,” Panna replied. Sanji turned their way, tuned to her voice, so she gave him a wink. “I also have many younger sisters back home whom I am sure would _love_ to meet you, dreamboat~!”

Sanji was completely gone now.

“We’re kind of still in the middle of something here, people!” Franky interrupted. In time to refocus their collective attention back on the colossus red demon swinging a fist their way.

Everyone scattered, dodging in different directions. “Are you two here to fight or to talk?” Robin asked sharply, unimpressed.

Panna pouted. “Fine, we’ll fight. Know that our assistance won’t be for free though.”

“Anything you want, Panna-chan~” Sanji declared.

“Idiot is a lost cause,” Zoro muttered.

Usopp suddenly collapsed onto the ground, his kneecaps twitching. “M-M-Moriah! Moriah is right there, in that zombie’s belly!” Usopp shouted.

Sanji got serious at that, finally, and lit up a cigarette. “All the better, since we no longer need to scramble around looking for our targets.”

“So that... is Gekko Moriah?” Panna questioned, feeling uncertain and more than a bit disappointed. She was expecting a buff warrior dragon-slayer necromancer due to his famous clash with Emperor Kaido, not someone grossly obese sitting on his ass. Nougat on the other hand readily brandished his blade, excited at the thought of fighting a notorious Warlord.

“Let’s do this,” Zoro grunted, teeth biting down on the handle of Wado Ichimonji. “Usopp, go find us more salt.”

Usopp hurried away at Zoro’s command, but before he got too far, a huge fist came down, destroying the infrastructure. Luckily, Brook appeared out of nowhere and he managed to save Usopp at the last second. Panna and Nougat still had no idea what the salt was for though.

Usopp and Franky then attempted a coordinated team attack. Usopp using oil with Franky’s fire to produce a massive blazing raptor, engulfing the barbarian zombie in torching flames. Chopper and Zoro were next, using the opening this diversion offered. Chopper activated Heavy Point to throw Zoro up so the swordsman could cut down a nearby tower, creating ammunition from building material. Sanji caught on to the strategy straight away, and kicked the concrete blocks at Oars with their impromptu boulder cannons.

The first hit struck Oars hard on the waist, but then the zombie retaliated, punching the stones back.

Nougat rolled his eyes and stepped forward to slice apart the stone blocks raining down upon them, saving Robin and Brook in the process. “This is annoying. We get in each other’s way.”

Usopp had another trick up his sleeve though, and this time he launched Franky himself at the giant zombie’s midsection, getting Franky within point-blank distance to shoot at Moriah. Franky aimed his left hand artillery weapons.

For half a second, it looked like it would work.

Until it didn’t, when the zombie’s detrimental agility once again thwarted the Strawhat Pirates’ scheme. Franky was kicked into a brick wall, bloody and downed, barely clinging to life. The Strawhat crew were forced on the defensive. Nami interfered at the last moment, joining in the fight by preventing the zombie from finishing Franky off for good with a well-timed thunderbolt, but then... things changed.

Oars directed an attack at Nami in that distant tower, too far away outside physical reach. “Gomu-Gomu Pistol!” Oars shouted, when the punch quite suddenly stretched.

There was a concordant gasp of alarm.

“Why did the arm stretch?!” Sanji shouted. “There should be only one rubber man in this world!”

Nougat and Panna were pale for a very different reason. “Did that thing just... mimicked Brother Katakuri’s ability?” Nougat whispered, his hands were shaking now, for once genuinely scared since stepping foot on this ghost island.

Panna was even more mentally unbalanced than her younger brother, mind going completely blank. She could handle herself under pressure of fighting against Warlords, but not this. Brother Katakuri was a monster on the battlefield. Undefeated, invincible, relentless, and absolutely impossible. This was hopeless, she should get Nougat and run, before both of them got killed.

Panna was still paralyzed by unadulterated panic when the next assault came, Oars attacking all of them at the same time using wide-ranged ‘Gomu-Gomu Whip’ with an elongated leg. Everyone jumped aside to evade that sweeping kick, but Panna... she couldn’t move.

Sanji—the chivalrous knight he was—took notice at once. He rushed back without hesitation, throwing self-preservation to the wind, and pulled Panna protectively into his arms. Sanji would shield her with his own body if he had to.

They were hit together, crushed between a giant foot and the wall.

“SANJI!!” Usopp and Chopper screamed.

“That idiot,” Zoro hissed, his worry channeling into frustration. Nougat gripped his sword, concerned for his sister, but said nothing.

Oars withdrew its leg, to see the result...

.

Somewhere in the forest.

Luffy ran into Risky Brothers of the Rolling Pirates, and was soon introduced to Charlotte ‘Marriage Proposal’ Lola. Luffy was very very confused.

.

... Sanji thought he was in heaven, because what was this wonderful sensation?

Dust settled. Sanji glanced up, unhurt, to find himself buried between a glorious set of buxom boobs. Panna with her back pressed to the wall, had her hands raised and wrists crisscrossed behind Sanji’s head, to tank the full force of that attack, unavoidably squeezing the shorter blond man against her breast.

Panna’s arms were numb, strained after taking such a powerful blow, because her armament haki was crap compared to Brother Raisin and she had yet to fully master black hardening. Panna still forced out a gentle smile though, for the silly noble man glued onto her, such self-sacrificing virtue was difficult to find on the sea. “Thank you, for snapping me out of it,” she said softly.

At this point, Sanji could probably die happy.

Nougat saw the whole thing unfurl from the sidelines, but arrived at the complete opposite conclusion upon seeing that swine feeling up his sister. Nougat was overcame by this sudden urge to shank a pig. He growled, but squashed down that untimely impulse.

“... that chick, just blocked a direct hit from Zombie Luffy,” Usopp uttered in disbelief. Zoro frowned, the woman was a much bigger threat than originally expected, and he knew this temporary alliance did not change the fact they were enemies.

Nougat could practically read what Zoro was thinking from the cloudy expression on his face. “In case you’re wondering, my sister is a lot stronger than me,” Nougat said. “Are you surprised?”

Zoro didn’t reply.

Nougat readjusted his stance to face the zombie. “You’re still _my_ opponent though, once we finish dealing with this. My sister is beyond your league.”

Zoro gave Nougat a cold glare, but knew the kid was right. Moriah first, so he turned, sprinting towards the giant zombie. Nougat followed after the green-head swordsman, falling a step behind.

Brook thought up an idea just then, willing to risk himself to repay a favor. With the Strawhat crew Robin, Nami, and Usopp’s assistance. Brook was slung into the sky like a super-speed lightning needle, penetrating the zombie’s thick hide and straight through its right shoulder.

“Nice work there, Bones...!” Zoro called between tightly clenched teeth. He spun his three swords in a circular swing, with the new blade Shusui’s help sending out a single compact air spiral. “Santoryu, Hyakuhachi Pound—”

That technique was similar to one of Nougat’s own, so he offered support by pivoting his katana in the corresponding fashion, forming a compressed lilac twister. “Katakuri Kanone—”

Their attacks met in midair, fusing into a pink floral tornado, piercing through the zombie creature’s left shoulder. “—PHOENIX HURRIKAN!!” Zoro and Nougat shouted together.

The unplanned collaborative combo turned out surprisingly well.

Moriah laughed, somewhat amused. “You are very good for a new Strawhat member, ki-shishishi!”

“I’m not a Strawhat for fuck's sake—!” Nougat fumed, still actually a young child quick to anger, when the zombie took advantage of his indignant distraction to direct a stomp on his person.

Zoro grasped the kid’s jacket and threw him out of the way. “Don’t get baited, you fool!”

Nougat pulled himself up from the ground, there was grime in his hair and a flustered blush on his face. “This doesn’t mean anything! I am still going to fight you when this is over!”

“What are you, five?” Zoro groaned. “Focus!”

“I’m fifteen!”

.

_Clink. Clink. Clink._

Katakuri left the ship by the port, walking towards the epicenter of that chaotic war zone.

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Panna and Raisin’s backstory is expanded upon in **Family Album** Ch8. Basically they were the first set of deliberately trained ‘dolls’ for BM Pirates to lure in preys with pretty faces, but were forbidden to actually marry. Pudding was the perfected final product.
> 
> Both Charlotte daughters and Charlotte sons were picked for this job, because Big Mom is not sexist and mistreats her children equally between genders.


	8. Main Menu

**Main Menu**

... ... Three. Four. Five. Six.

Robin became the fourth Strawhat to have her shadow stolen, due to Moriah’s underhanded trickery, causing her to lose consciousness. Sanji and Chopper were pummeled by Oars using ‘Gomu-Gomu Gatling’ with a rainfall of punches. Zoro was next, taking an oversized knee right to the chest. Strawhat Pirates were taken down one by one.

“Sister Panna, let me fight!” Nougat screamed, when he was snatched into the sky again by his sister, just as a gigantic fist slammed down upon his previous location, missing by a hair. His white scarf rustled.

“No,” Panna said, pursing her lips. She knew their chance of winning had plummeted without backup. “I will not let you get yourself killed.”

Usopp clung on to the invaluable opening those Charlotte siblings unwittingly provided, dodging a jab while skipping through air, and slingshotted the bag of precious salt straight into that zombie creature’s mouth in a desperate last-ditch attempt to purify this formidable foe. His effort ended in dismal failure, thwarted by Moriah’s crafty shadow manipulation ability. Usopp saw life flashing before his eyes, when Oars marked him as target and went in for the kill.

Nami screamed, feeling all hope was lost...

... when she was grabbed from amid the rubble at high speed, held in a powerful palm. Nami was in a building now, disoriented, and she glanced up to find herself in the hand of this jacked up blue Luffy with a very uncharacteristic ferocious demeanor. “Huh? L-Luffy?!” Nami exclaimed.

Oars pulled back its arm, twisting into a corkscrew to increase spinning potency. “Gomu-Gomu Rifle!”

Nightmare Luffy just raised his right hand, blocking that devastating hit like it was absolutely _nothing_ , and then he followed with a decimating left hook. The colossus zombie creature was sent flying, tide of battle completely turned in an instant.

“There is only one, Monkey D Luffy,” Nightmare Luffy growled.

This would not be a drawn-out brawl.

.

“He’s doing it, fighting Oars!”

“That boy is amazing!”

A large crowd of people appeared out of the forest, drawing Nami and Usopp’s attention.

“Hurry up, everyone, while we have time. That boy is our ray of hope, the least we can do is save his comrades!” Lola said, directing her men from the Rolling Pirates into action. “Quick, move them to a safer location!”

Panna and Nougat startled when they heard that voice, familiar from long years ago. Panna dropped from the sky, landing in such haste that the impact caused the ground to crater.

Risky Brothers stumbled backwards in alarm, but reacted adequately by unsheathing their blades. “Are we under attack?”

Panna and Nougat ignored them of course, making a beeline for their older sister and flung their arms around Lola in a tight embrace. “Sister Lola, we miss you so much!” Panna grinned happily, tipping her head down to look at her now slightly shorter sister. “I’m Panna, do you remember me?”

Nougat on the other hand tilted his head up, already accepted the fact that he would always be among the shortest in their family. “And I am Nougat! I grew up a little, but lots have changed while you are away,” Nougat said, tugging loose his fluffy scarf to bare his row of serrated vampire fangs. “I have Sister Poire’s teeth now.”

Lola was overwhelmed by emotions.

The Risky Brothers had their mouths slowing falling open, flabbergasted as comprehension gradually dawned. They were among the few selected loyal Cacao Island TARTE soldiers who followed their beloved young minister, when Lola decided to escape from Tottoland. That was eight years ago. Lady Panna was only eleven then, a pint-sized girl with brusque tomboyish attitude, always with mud on her face and dirt smearing her trousers. Lord Nougat was a skittish seven-year-old boy with crippling self-esteem issues, tangled orange hair and no scarf, and constantly sporting bruises.

Lady Panna of today was dressed in lavish miniskirt with ruby brooch and silk stockings, while Lord Nougat walked with unfaltering gait and a steady palm on his sword. The Risky Brothers could not reconcile the gorgeous princess and the confident young warrior prince standing before them now, with their memories from long ago.

“Oh, Panna! Nougat!” Lola whispered. Her eyes were wet, she missed her family as well. “You’ve grown! How are you doing? Are you hurt?”

“We’re fine, Sister Lola,” Nougat replied. “Some minor scratches from the scuffle, that zombie is really strong.”

“Yes, it is. No need to worry anymore though,” Lola said, pointing towards the sky where Nightmare Luffy was throwing Oars around like his personal chew toy. “I have found the man who will be our ray of hope.”

Panna was confused by her older sister’s statement, when she noticed the ground underneath her feet. Panna immediately got angry. “So it is true, that asshole Moriah really stole your shadow.”

Lola patted Panna reassuringly on the shoulder. “It is fortunate you did not suffer a similar fate,” Lola said with a gentle smile. “How did you two get here anyway? Did you run away from home as well?”

Panna and Nougat tensed, only then did they recall their mission. “We’re here to find you, Sister Lola,” Panna explained cautiously. “Mama wants us to bring you home. She is still mad at you, and told us to use force if necessary. I’m really sorry, but we cannot disobey.”

“And we... did not come here alone, to this island barque,” Nougat finished, knowing his next words might not be good news for someone of Sister Lola’s current disposition.

“... Brother Katakuri is here, with us.”

Lola didn’t know what to think.

.

Nightmare Luffy used ‘Gomu-Gomu Storm’ to bring Zombie Luffy down, with a hurricane shower of fists to pound the animated ogre corpse into the central mansion. Oars collapsed, body beaten and broken, but Luffy himself was at the last of his stamina as well. He could not hold the shadows in any longer, deflating like a balloon empty of gas.

It didn’t matter though, because Oars had been taken down!

“He did it, he won...!” Lola exclaimed, shedding a tear. She would soon be able to walk under the sun again, after three dreadfully long years wandering in darkness.

“Oars and Moriah have been defeated!” Rolling Pirates cheered, jubilant in triumph. “You did it, our ray of hope! Thriller Bark has fallen!!”

Luffy, relieved and too tired, closed his eyes to get a bit of much needed rest. Rolling Pirates and other members of Victim's Association gathered around their young savior, as they discussed how to force Moriah to release their shadows from his control.

None of them expected the monstrous zombie creature to suddenly stir, standing back up again, before brushing off injuries as inconsequential inconvenience. “That didn’t even hurt,” Oars said.

“Like the homies back home,” Nougat muttered, the situation abruptly turned dire. Strawhat Pirates were downed, these people’s morale in tatters, while Sister Lola and Sister Panna both in poor condition to fight due to psychological hindrance. Nougat himself was the only remaining capable combatant on their side, but odds were not in his favor against such a perseverant beast.

Nougat did not care about those worthless cowering trash that were denizens from the forest, but Sister Lola’s shadow he had to get it back. Nougat would at least try, so he started walking towards...

... a bloodied hand landed on his shoulder, halting him on his tracks.

“Zo... Zoro?” Nougat was astonished. That man had been wounded so bad, did he honestly think he could still fight?

“Stay back, kid,” Zoro murmured, resolutely placing a sword between his teeth. “We’re not so weak, that we need a child to finish our battles.”

“You will die, if you kept on going,” Nougat said.

“I won’t.”

Luffy pushed himself up on his hands, still too worn to stand, but determined to exert past his physical limit. “I just need to get in... one more attack,” Luffy panted, addressing his crew. Strawhat Pirates picked themselves up one by one, getting into position at their captain’s simple command, and readied their counterattack.

Nougat stayed away as he was told, to see how this small battered crew pull through, working together with all the conviction in the world, to bring down the zombie creature one final time. They utilized water and ice to stun the zombie’s mobility, and iron chains to pull tight the backbone, creating the perfect setup for their young captain to strike with maximized damage. It was actually pretty goddamn brilliant, Sister Panna might have the right idea after all attempting to get them on their side.

“Gear Third, Bone Balloon!” Luffy shouted. He bit into his thumb joints, blowing air to inflate both hands, before stretching his arms back.

“That Strawhat captain’s ability, is kind of similar to Brother Katakuri,” Panna observed. “No wonder Sister Lola would choose to rely on him.”

Nougat nodded.

“Gomu-Gomu... GIGANT BAZOOKA!!” Luffy struck, completely shattering the zombie’s spine.

Finally the end...?

.

A single golden ray peeked above the skyline, the herald of daybreak, cutting through the unending gloom of _Thriller Bark_. Luffy, panting and wheezing, had shrunken down to a tiny size.

“Moriah, you bastard, wake up! Return all our shadows at once!” People of Victim's Association shouted, under pressure due to the approaching morning sunlight. “Or we’ll beat you up, too!”

Moriah crawled out of the midriff control chamber. His prized zombie servant incapacitated and his own body severely injured, with the taste of copper on his tongue, but he still had his head held high. “This is not a children’s game! A true pirate fears nothing, not even death!” Moriah declared. “To think that you would use my ability against me, to wreck such mayhem on my ship, Strawhat! How very impertinent!”

“Shut up, you’re the one who got in our way in the first place!” Miniature Luffy squeaked. “Give our shadows back, now!”

Inexplicably, Moriah started to laugh.

“Even if I were to allow you to continue peacefully on your journey, death and despair are all that await you in the end!” Moriah shrieked, his eyes manic and voice hysterical. “You have gathered a commendable crew, but you are nowhere near ready for the New World! You will lost everything you cherish there!”

Lola wordlessly looked toward her younger siblings, Panna and Nougat fidgeted sheepish at the indirect accusation. They definitely knew their family were big part of the reasons why, as core figures of an Emperor’s clan. “... Not our fault foolish rookies mess with our territories all the time,” Nougat grumbled. “Decimating a couple crews as warning is what I’d call appropriate retribution.”

The Warlord was solely focused on Luffy however.

“With my army of undead, I aim to be the Pirate King!” Moriah announced, a thousand inky shadow strings exploded from beneath his feet, spreading throughout his island barque. “Shadows of Thriller Bark, lend me your power! SHADOWS ASGARD!”

Moriah would take all the available shadows in to enhance his own strength. “Strawhat, the shadows you absorbed were about a hundred, right?” Moriah wheezed, bulking up as power poured into his body. “Then I shall take two hundred, three hundred, six hundred, seven hundred, one thousa—huh? NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE!!”

People of Victim's Association stared in dumbfound terror, as their tormentor bloated, becoming the size of a mountain towering over them all. Moriah roared, the prideful man pushed to desperation, and then brought down his fist splitting the entire island in two with one single punch.

“This can’t be happening...!” Risky Brothers wailed in despair. “It’s hopeless, everybody run!!”

There was really nothing else to do.

Lola however, stayed firmly among broken debris of the central plaza. She did not run.

“Sister Lola, sun is coming up soon,” Panna said, tugging on her older sister’s wrist. “You should take shelter in the forest for the time being.”

Lola shook her head, gesturing to the Strawhat Pirates who all stood steadfast on the spot refusing to move an inch. Luffy lowered his stance and pumped his calves, his skin took on an ethereal gleam and vapor steamed from his flesh, entering Gear Second. A race against the clock.

“They’ve lost their shadows as well, yet they did not give up...!” Lola said. “So I won’t, either!”

“Those people are insane,” Nougat muttered. “Is it really worth it, to throw life away like this?”

“This is what it truly means to bet all our hopes on somebody,” Lola replied, showing her resolve. “It’s my duty to fulfill, I will not run.”

Luffy dodged Moriah’s attack and launched himself, speed blitzing his first hit against Shadowed Moriah with ‘Gomu-Gomu Jet Rocket’ to the stomach area. Moriah coughed, spewing shadows in his weakened state. “I’m going to make you spit it all out!” Luffy declared. His devil fruit physique was immune to blunt damage, allowing him to get up again after being caged by shadow manipulation and taking a direct earth-shattering punch.

“I will not lose! Gear Third, Bone Balloon! Gomu-Gomu...” Luffy strained his rubber muscles to the elastic breaking point, struggling, as the first ever attempt to combine speed of Gear Second and ferocity of Gear Third into a single technique.

“... GIGANT JET SHELL!!”

Would he make it?

The sun shined bright on the horizon.

Lola’s cheek began to melt, Panna screamed in horror. Zoro, Sanji, and Robin stared straight at the sunrise. The Strawhats had utmost faith in their captain, showing no hint of fear, even as they started to disintegrate.

Like an invisible wildfire that swiped through the land, everyone burned.

.

_Clink._

A quiet metallic sound, distinctive as jangling of spurs. Lola was paralyzed, with her distraught younger siblings clutching at her arms, and then a voice sounded behind them. The familiar calming baritone Lola had not heard for eight years.

“You are being too reckless, Lola.”

The twenty-third daughter of the Charlotte House swirled around, heart hammering in her chest with her face crumbling to dust, equal parts overjoyed and absolutely terrified out of her skin. Gekko Moriah was a dangerous man beaten to disillusion by hardship of the Grand Line, but her own older brother Charlotte Katakuri was amongst the true monsters that roamed the New World sea.

Katakuri pinned his runaway little sister with his unblinking crimson gaze. He raised his left hand, to slam his palm down onto the ground.

_Awakening._

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moriah missed one shadow, because cerberus on Katakuri’s ship was blocked off by seawater.


	9. Cheese Course

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katakuri does not have the epithet ‘Dogtooth’ since his teeth is supposed to be a secret. He will be called whatever I want until his epithet is officially revealed.

**Cheese Course**

The ground rumbled, turning soft and malleable. A burst of beautifully blinding white spread from beneath Katakuri’s left palm, his awakening ability a direct visual reverse to Moriah’s ominous shadow absorption skill, and reaching just as far and wide. The sharp contrasting imagery, as if to symbolically commemorate the ending of this decade-long nightmare, that darkness on this day did not reign supreme.

Gekko Moriah was defeated, taken down by Monkey D Luffy’s fists, and the Warlord shrunk as hundreds of inky shadows escaped from his control racing back to their original owners across the world. Luffy collapsed due to extreme exhaustion, falling from up high exposed in the open, too tired to seek shelter, before he was caught by a familiar cushion of soft rice cake. Luffy breathed, closing his eyes. The morning sun shined bright, in that crucial last second, was blocked off when miles and miles of pure white surround wall shoot into the sky like celebration fireworks.

Rolling Pirates and people of Victim's Association cheered, welcoming back their wayward shadows. Panna and Nougat laughed, hugging Lola tight. Katakuri secretly smiled, knowing his job was done, and let his awakening power dissipate by exploding them into a shower of edible mochi confetti.

“Looks like we survived,” Zoro said, inspecting the sticky sponge floor underneath his combat boots, that was slowly returning to its original concrete texture. He directed a wary glance at the tall gothic man that had just shown up across the plaza, suspecting it was his doing. A devil fruit power?

“It’s beautiful,” Robin noted appreciatively, holding out her arm and let the sprinkle of mochi flakes fall into her palm.

“Robin-chan~” Sanji sang, twirling in a circle. “Are you alright?”

“That was so close,” Nami let out a relief sigh. “I’m glad no one disappeared.”

The Strawhat Pirates came over, gathering around where their captain had fallen. Chopper curiously probed the makeshift bed supporting Luffy, before taking out the portable medical kit to tend to his wounds. “It is the same kind as those sweet cots on that bread ship,” Chopper said, poking at the bed. “Did they help Luffy?”

Zoro turned to his small reindeer friend. “I doubt it,” he said. “That crew didn’t exactly have an affable reputation.”

Usopp dusted off a rock, to sit down next to where Luffy was resting. “Oh yeah, I remember you mentioned something about recognizing their flag before,” Usopp said, holding his knees in worry as he examined his best friend’s sleeping form. “If there are even stronger enemies ahead—”

The unmistakable clanking of blades interrupted Usopp’s words, as if to reflect on his anxiety, coming from the other side of this open area. Strawhat Pirates turned, to see people of Victim's Association had their various weapons out, and them were all glaring angrily at the three Charlotte siblings...!

.

It shouldn’t have happened like this.

Everyone was high on happy victory, after their group’s chairman showed up, when one young crew member of the Rolling Pirates called to their captain. A title so thoughtlessly given.

“Captain Lola! We should thank the Strawhats, for what they did for us—!”

Risky Brothers immediately slapped their hands over the teen’s mouth, knowing that particular crewman only joined them in Paradise and knew nothing about their crew’s true history, but it was way too late. The three other Charlotte siblings all clearly heard. Panna and Nougat gave their older sister a blank expressionless stare.

“Why do they call you that, Sister Lola?” Panna asked quietly, her cheery demeanor abruptly flipped. “Captain? Really?”

Katakuri sighed, he uncrossed his arms and let his hands fell to the sides, hooking thumbs into his leather belt. He was disappointed, but had sincerely hoped that he could at least remain ignorant.

“Please, let me explain,” Lola tried to say.

Panna was feeling utterly betrayed. “We don’t need to hear your explanation,” she hissed. “Do you have any idea what Mama told us, before we left home? She said you are a traitor, but none of us wanted to believe her!”

Nougat was even more outwardly aggressive and uncompromising, and he was the first to unsheathe his blade. “The sea is harsh and unforgiving, so we take care of our own as family,” Nougat echoed quietly, the motto taught from brother to sister to brother, his katana steadily trained on his own older sister. “So are you with us, Sister Lola? Or are you against us?”

Rolling Pirates reacted by drawing their weapons, in defense of their captain’s honor, loyalty overcoming their fear of the unknown. Lola was put in this delicate situation, being the center of conflict. Risky Brothers were nervously chewing on their fingernails, trying to calm everyone down, since they were among the very few who actually knew how precarious a circumstance this was.

“Hey, hey. Are they serious?” Usopp exclaimed, he could not understand how everything fell apart this quickly over matters that seemed so insignificant.

Zoro scowled, clutching at his own blade. There was a worrisome chance they could get involved, and Zoro hadn’t forgotten his duel with that Nougat kid which was only temporarily put on hold. Nami though was focused on a different subject. “Is Lola their captain?” Nami asked, searching around the agitated crowd for that alleged captain, since she recognized the name of her newfound friend. Her eyes however first landed on that conspicuously tall man in black leathers, and immediately she recalled another related confrontation.

“Oh no,” Nami gasped quietly. “I forgot something really important...!”

“What is it?” Robin asked.

Nami urgently turned to address her crewmates. “Everyone, there is another Warlord on—”

“He is already here,” Katakuri interrupted, gesturing with a small tilt of his head.

Bartholomew Kuma sat atop the crumbling hull of that fallen main tower, and there was a Den-Den Mushi in his hand. “This is a direct order from the World Government,” the transponder snail relayed. “Obliterate the Strawhat Pirates, and everyone else on Thriller Bark. Leave no one alive.”

Rolling Pirates and people of Victim's Association were horrified by those callous words, and they immediately redirected their blades at this new arrival, but the cyborg Warlord’s emotionless gaze was fixed solely on the Sweet Commander of Big Mom Pirates. Charlotte Katakuri was giving Bartholomew Kuma the best _you can try_ taunt with just his crimson eyes.

“There might be an unforeseeable complication concerning this matter,” Kuma said into the mushi receiver, but didn’t elaborate before disconnecting the line. He then stood, removing his glove, before pseudo-teleporting in front of the survivors group.

“Just when we’re about to obtain freedom! We are not going to die here!”

“Let’s get him! Take him down!”

“Stop it, all of you! The opponent is too strong!” Lola cried, in vain, as her comrades still rushed in to get devastated in one hit when an invisible paw cannon ripped through them all.

Risky Brothers could not bear the pain of watching their friends killed before their eyes. There was only one person who could save everybody on this island, even if they had to put aside their dignity and beg. “Lord Katakuri, please,” Risky Brothers pleaded, bending their knees and groveled on the dirt, trying to appeal to the Sweet Commander’s occasional kinder nature. “You can help us, please.”

The second prince of Tottoland gave them an icy glare. “I have no obligation to help anyone who are not family,” Katakuri said coldly. “Mama is not happy with you guys either, for abandoning the crew without appropriate repayment. You know the rules. You want to leave, you spin the wheel.”

“What the hell! They are already begging on their knees!” Usopp shouted, shaking his fists in outrage. “I thought you were a decent guy, for your hospitality, but are you actually an asshole?!”

Panna would not tolerate such blatant disrespect. “Just who do you think you are, talking to Brother Katakuri like that,” Panna snarled. She gripped Usopp by the front collar of his cape, violently lifting him off the ground. Usopp choked.

Sanji tried to pacify her irritation. “Panna-chan, we shouldn’t fight among ourselves...!”

Panna was still extremely peeved, but at the same time she really didn’t want to quarrel with this blond man. Panna tsked, casting Usopp aside.

Sanji let Usopp face-plant into the rubble, wheezing and grumbling about unfair treatment. Sanji was reluctant to be seen fretting over a male crewmate when there was a beautiful lady present, but he had firm grasp on where to place his true loyalty, so he subtly positioned himself between Usopp and Panna in case he needed to further intervene. Situation was escalating into disaster, Warlord on one side and infighting on another, with Luffy still unconscious to make everything worse. Sanji chewed on the cigarette in his mouth, trying to decide which was the more pressing problem...

... when Bartholomew Kuma appeared right next to Zoro, having chosen his first target. “Roronoa ‘Pirate Hunter’ Zoro, shall I begin with you?”

Zoro was prepared to face down this impossible adversary. “I accept the challenge,” he said, moving Sandai Kitetsu to the left side of his waist to setup his opening move.

“Moron, why don’t you run?!” Nougat shouted at that boneheaded swordsman. “You’re already wounded!”

“This sort of misfortune is just how the world is,” Zoro grinned, manic and fearless. “Excuses won’t delay catastrophe, I don’t need your help nor pity.”

Nougat took a half step in his direction, unsure of what to do. His older siblings were indifferent and seemed content to watch this crew get annihilated, but Nougat was torn. He kind of wished that green-hair swordsman could at least survive.

Zoro dashed forward, his two swords unsheathed in a flash to perform his most powerful quick draw technique. “Nitoryu Iai, Rashomon!”

Kuma vanished, dodging the attack so effortlessly, to show up instead behind Zoro before reaching down with his menacing right hand. Zoro rolled to the side to evade the hit that carved a paw-shaped indent into concrete, then swung back his torso to avoid another invisible shockwave cannon.

Zoro was tired, panting heavy. He swiveled Sandai Kitetsu in a circular motion to send out an aerial strike, but even that was deflected with a simple raise of the Warlord’s hand.

This was going to be an ugly one-sided massacre. Nougat couldn’t stand it, and was already moving before he could second guess himself again. He sprinted around and then leaped, to attack Kuma from behind. If the Warlord was surprised, he didn’t show it, instead he calmly lifted his other hand and caught the blade in his paw, before propelling that young Charlotte son a fair distance backward.

“I told you to not get involved,” Zoro said, adjusting the grip on his sword.

Nougat picked himself up, there were bloody scuff marks on his cheek and temple. “I swear, you’re just trying to get yourself fucking killed before our rematch...!” Nougat seethed. He glared at the intimidating Warlord, before sneaking a brief glance at his older brother. “If I could—”

“Nougat, stand down,” Katakuri warned.

Nougat bit his lip, knowing Brother Katakuri was telling him to not attempt what he had in mind, always so perceptive due to his precognitive haki. Nougat could threaten his older brother into action by putting himself in danger, to perhaps save this not-unlikable maybe-enemy, but at what price? Brother Katakuri would be so disappointed in him.

“Sorry,” Nougat finally said, reluctantly putting away his blade. “You’re on your own.”

“It’s fine,” Zoro answered, preferring it like this anyway. “If I die here and now, that’s as far as I am meant to go.”

Kuma lowered himself to a battle stance, legs apart and hands on his knees. “Your time is up, Roronoa Zoro,” Kuma said. He used his devil fruit to swiftly repel air at the Strawhat swordsman, creating a barrage of pad cannon bombardment.

Zoro managed to somehow evade the merciless onslaught, but he was at his physical limit. Sanji intervened just as the Warlord appeared right next to Zoro again with that freakish cheating teleport ability, by directing a destructive ‘Concasse’ at Kuma’s jaw after spinning rapidly through the air to gain momentum...

... when Sanji howled in pain, his leg spasmed after crushing against unbreakable reinforced steel. That human bear cyborg didn’t even flinch.

“They’re going to get destroyed,” Panna said with a wince, only reacted when she saw Sanji struggle with injury. Panna gazed away, to look at her taller brother instead. “Are you okay with that?”

“Our mission is to bring Lola home, nothing more,” Katakuri answered, but then he suddenly became somewhat infuriated, as tendrils of white unfurled from beneath his boots. “Looks like that Warlord did not get the picture though, to stay away from our business.”

Panna was confused, turning back to the scene of battle, in time to witness Kuma spreading his arms wide. The Warlord was repelling the air against itself, to make a huge compressed shockwave bomb capable of enveloping the entire barque plaza...!

“I am willing to spare everyone’s life,” Kuma said, holding the delicate air bomb between his paws. “In exchange, I’ll be taking ‘Strawhat’ Luffy.”

Usopp clenched his fists, trembling in anger. “You’re telling us to betray our friend...!”

“Now, bring ‘Strawhat’ Luffy to me.”

The Strawhat Pirates and the Rolling Pirates shared an understanding look, wordlessly coming to a silent agreement. Katakuri sighed, knowing his involvement was now inevitable, before everyone shouted in unison, loud and clear.

“HELL NO!!”

“That’s a pity,” Kuma dispassionately responded, and released his bomb. “Ursus Shock.”

.

There was a forbidding thrum that reverberated among the people, with everybody else ducking frantically for cover, when Katakuri motioned with a simple gesture from his hand. Mochi awakening sprung from the ground like flowing white ribbons, suffocating the air bomb by encasing it inside hundred layers of haki hardened shell. The bomb exploded, the blast neutralized, splattering sticky rice cake everywhere.

“W-what? What just happened?” Usopp asked numbly, heart thundering in his chest and still in a state of unadulterated terror, with globs of tacky white substance over his face and torso. Usopp tentatively took a lick, it tasted sweet.

Risky Brothers bursted into thankful tears. “Lord Katakuri, thank you...!”

Katakuri ignored the commotion. He walked to stand before the taller Warlord, annoyance evident in his posture.

“I thought you would not interfere,” Kuma stated. “Charlotte ‘Clairvoyant’ Katakuri.”

Katakuri scowled, his left arm splitting open to reveal his famous three-pronged weapon. “I don’t care about anyone else on this island barque, but you should not have made a bomb that would involve my adorable younger siblings,” Katakuri replied, brandishing his trident and leveled it at the Warlord. “You’re _just following orders_ , anything else you want to add as your last words?”

“I’m just following orders,” Kuma belatedly echoed, monotonous. He used a rainfall of pad cannon shelling as diversion, before abruptly vanishing, his pseudo-teleportation faster than the naked eye could see. Those two powerhouses clashed in an instant amongst dust cloud created by shockwaves that missed their target, causing intense gusts of backlashing wind that push people down cowering among broken bricks and debris. Kuma needed to end the conflict as quickly as possible, by sending this troublesome opponent to another island far away. He appeared next to the Sweet Commander, reaching out with his right hand paw.

The glint of crimson gaze followed his movement, dissecting his every motive before he could put intent into action, because predictable linear speed was irrelevant against someone with future sight haki. A black buckled boot then slammed down on the Warlord’s wrist, deliberately timed, to keep his right hand flat and harmless on the ground.

“Don’t even try,” Katakuri warned.

Kuma still did, this time in a futile attempt to raise his left hand, but a split second saw Mogura’s sharp prongs burying halfway into the Warlord’s left shoulder, short-circuiting his cyborg composition. Katakuri narrowed his eyes, leaping back and with a swing of the trident, completely slicing off the Warlord’s left arm.

Someone among the spectators screamed. It was Chopper, who wasn’t expecting such visceral brutality. The Strawhat Pirates were in varying degrees of awe and distress, unable to comprehend how the dangerous Warlord whose presence had threatened them all mere minutes ago was now being toyed around like an amateur.

The mechanical limb landed with a thump.

“You possess one of those tricky devil fruits that could conclude a match through touch, but the universal weakness is the requirement for hand contact,” Katakuri summarized, pointing his trident at the Warlord’s right shoulder. “I am going to sever your right arm next, if you don’t _back off now_ , before I lose the little patience I have.”

This was a veteran, with lifelong experience in the New World, where devil fruit users were bountiful.

Bartholomew Kuma took a step back, before giving each member of the Strawhat Gang a careful glance, his gaze lingering on Monkey D Luffy as he calculated the odds. Big Mom Pirates were known for their whimsical childlike cruelty, a gamble to leave this rookie crew at their mercy. It might be necessary to carry out his leader’s plan earlier than intended. This could cost him everything, his life forfeited either way to government or to pirates. Kuma was willing to take this risk, to at least secure safety for Monkey D Dragon’s only son.

He still had one remaining hand, and that was enough. Kuma swirled around, going after his most important objective—

—Katakuri raised his left arm and clenched his fist. The rice cake mattress underneath the Strawhat captain promptly extended like a venus flytrap, caging Luffy inside a solid mochi enclosure. Franky reacted by pulling Chopper away from the suddenly animated food stuff. Robin and Brook divided their attention between the Warlord and that Sweet Commander, cautious as they identified Katakuri as the cause.

Kuma’s outstretched hand stopped a centimeter away, his access blocked off and his last attempt thwarted, because this was what it meant to have every move foreseen like an open book.

“Why are you going after him?” Katakuri asked. “Who is he to you?”

Kuma lowered his hand, knowing he lost, utterly and completely. “I will leave as per your request,” he finally said.

Fate of the Strawhat Pirates were in the hands of destiny now. Bartholomew Kuma gave a silent apology to the revolutionary leader that was also his friend, for failing to protect his heir when most needed. He retrieved his severed machine arm, trusting Dr. Vegapunk would be able to work repairs, before leaving as suddenly as he came.

Katakuri let him go.

.

Luffy stirred in his sleep, blinking groggily awake, roused by the delicious aroma of quality sweets. He was so tired and physically drained and his energy wholly depleted, but there was food all around him giving off this alluring scent.

Only one logical action to take at this point, so Luffy reached out and start eating the mochi dome holding him captive.

.

.

 


	10. Desserts

**Desserts**

The food substance was adhesive and pliable, stretchy and frustratingly sturdy. Franky and Usopp pulled in vain at the white mound that imprisoned their captain, trying to dig a hole, but they were making no visible progress.

“We need to get some flour on this thing, to make it less sticky,” Sanji said, rubbing the stuff between his fingers. “Filling this with red bean paste and whole strawberry can make fine ichigo daifuku, a type of traditional dessert.”

Chopper’s eyes twinkled in excitement, and his mouth salivated. “Is it very sweet?”

Zoro uncrossed his arms, standing vigilant as he watched Warlord Kuma made his wordless exist. “Stairs to the kitchen was destroyed a while ago,” he said. “You’re the cook, any other bright ideas to get our captain out?”

As the Strawhats squabbled over what to do, the mochi pile they were all gathered around suddenly started to cave in, top sinking down at the center. Chopper panicked, anxious that his friend would be suffocating in the rice cake, when the crest broke open. Luffy poked out his head, his neck stretching, mouth full as he swallowed.

“Help, I’m stuck.”

“LUFFY!!”

Strawhat Pirates scrambled to the rescue, peeling back the opening around Luffy’s neck. Robin offered assistance by sprouting hands with her devil fruit power, pushing her captain up, in a similar fashion to how she had once saved him from being buried alive by Crocodile’s quicksand. Nami and Zoro filled Luffy in as the others work cleaning away the food trap, about everything that had transpired with the appearance of Warlord Kuma.

“Where is he now?” Luffy asked.

“He left, soon after that man cut off his arm,” Nami shivered. “Gave me the creeps.”

“We should be more careful though,” Zoro added, he had always been among the more cautious Strawhats. “Having a mutual enemy doesn’t always make us allies.”

Luffy nodded.

Two members of the Rolling Pirates approached the Strawhat Pirates as they talked. Luffy was the first to take notice. “You’re with those weird people from the forest,” Luffy said, dusting himself off as he stood up, hands on his hips.

“Yeah, we are. Sorry about doing strange things to you,” Risky Brothers said, apologetic, before turning very serious. “We are very thankful for what you did, by taking down that Warlord Moriah. We want to repay the favor.”

Luffy cocked his head to the side, inquisitive. “What do you mean?”

“Captain Lola is negotiating with her older brother now,” Risky Brothers answered in a hushed whisper, gesturing to where the four Charlotte siblings were located. “You guys should take this chance and run, while we keep them occupied.”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Usopp interrupted, feeling the bruise where the younger Charlotte daughter had previously choked him. “Are they our enemy after all?”

Franky rubbed his triple chin. “I can’t get a good read on them to be honest. They attacked us one second and helped us the next, their actions are very contradictory.”

“The same happened to me,” Brook added. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

“It would be troubling, if they had ill intentions,” Robin said, carefully assessing the Risky Brothers. “On the chance they are indeed as hostile as you implied, would you people be alright dealing with them on your own?”

“Don’t worry about us,” the skinny Risky Brother replied, offering a shaky thumbs up. “Lord Katakuri might look intimidating, but he is actually a pretty understanding commander, all things considered.”

The shorter Risky Brother grimaced. “Most of the time, at least.”

“That doesn’t sound reassuring,” Nami deadpanned. She watched the heavyset woman with pink pigtails some distance away, still concerned for her new friend, before turning to her own captain. “What do you think, Luffy? Should we heed their advice?”

Luffy put the straw hat on his head. “No, running away is not how I prefer to do things,” Luffy said, his sandals pattered on gravel as he began to walk, in an unexpected direction.

“Much simpler to just ask them what they want.”

.

Panna and Lola were arguing over how best to handle Rolling Pirates and the other members of Victim's Association. Panna considered it standard procedure to take Grand Line refugees back to Tottoland, while Lola was vehement on respecting people’s free choice. Katakuri was silent between the two girls and offered no input, his thoughts engrossed in the logistics of transporting two hundred and ninety-two additional crewmen with his small battleship. Nougat on the other hand kept glancing at the Strawhat Pirates, itching for his postponed duel, so he was quick to note their approach.

Luffy had climbed atop a jutted protruding rock, to make himself look slightly taller, though he only managed to reach the Sweet Commander’s waist.

“You’re welcome, but I didn’t do it for any of you,” Katakuri answered.

“Thank you for helping us chase away the Warlord,” Luffy said, grinning brightly, because he had been taught by many great people to always appreciate other’s kindness. He then got somber, his grip tightened on the brim of his signature hat. “What do you guys want though, that got everyone else here so nervous?”

Katakuri wasn’t paying attention to those words, instead his gaze was drawn to the straw hat, for the first time seeing it on that brunet boy’s head at this angle, obscuring the not-red hair. Abruptly Katakuri shut his eyes and turned away, suddenly blind, the world rushing forward to overtake his perception. He did not want to get triggered by flashback from almost two and half decades ago, goddamnit.

“Panna, Nougat,” Katakuri said, controlling his breath. “Pick your gifts for Mama, we’re leaving.”

Panna and Nougat exchanged a puzzled glance, unsure of what had caused their older brother to lose composure. Nougat was unhappy, but obeyed the direct order, and he searched around before deciding on the singing skeleton. Strawhat Pirates didn’t know what that meant, but Brook promptly stiffened with a hand on his concealed cane blade. Nougat was surprised, when instead it was one of Zoro’s swords that unsheathed, holding steadily across the chest in the universal defensive pose to keep him at bay.

“Bones is with us, kid,” Zoro said sternly. His subtle threat didn’t work all that well though, because Chopper suddenly shouted in dismay. The small human hybrid reindeer was already caught in Panna’s large talon hands.

“What is going on?” Sanji asked sharply, not keen on another conflict.

“I told you before, that our assistance won’t be for free,” Panna answered, attempting at courteous. “Look here, you are a nice person and we’re not trying to pick a fight. The skeleton has no crew and this raccoon is just a pet. Let us have them and we will leave, no harm done.”

Sanji shook his head. “We can’t comply to such outrageous demands, Panna-chan.”

Panna was genuinely perplexed. “Why not? We’re not trying to take your captain, nor your chef,” she said, then slyly smiled. “Unless you want to take the raccoon’s place instead?”

Sanji blushed. He quickly put a new cigarette into his mouth, to prevent himself from saying anything he would definitely regret later.

“Lola, get your things, we’re going home,” Katakuri addressed his little sister, almost as if he was in a hurry, before turning to inspect the creatures his other younger siblings had chosen. “We’ll take the skeleton and that animal—”

—the next instant shocked everyone, when a rapid pistol punch was thrown directly at the Sweet Commander’s face...!!

Katakuri widened his eyes, leaning back in the last split second to avoid the hit, fist shooting past, but even then he was still _very visibly grazed_ above his cheekbone. The younger Charlotte siblings gasped, bewildered and extremely alarmed. Every single person currently present that were former Tottoland TARTE soldiers had mouths hanging open, eyeballs bulging out, logic defied and the world just flipped on their heads. Katakuri blinked, staring at that boy captain, uncomprehending.

“Stay away from my friends,” Luffy growled, his arm snapping back and veins popping on his fist.

“WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS...?!” Nougat screamed, absolutely furious out of his mind and vision seeing red. He was there in a heated flash, blade glistened and aggressive, his action completely dictated by irrational wrath. Zoro chased after him at once, intercepting the slash aimed at his captain when their katanas met with a resounding clank.

“That boy is overreacting,” Franky muttered.

Panna was still stunned. “I... have never seen Brother Katakuri touched in battle before, in my life,” Panna whispered. She threw Chopper aside and flexed her mammalian claws, stalking after that insolent brunet brat, because she too was boiling enraged, just emotionally contained compared to her slightly more temperamental little brother.

“Please get out of my way, Sanji,” Panna snapped, irritated, when that blond man stopped her again. Franky and Robin went over to aid Sanji, since they knew of their chef’s weakness to women, and blocked her path as well. Everyone else also took out their weapons, sensing that a fallout conflict was imminent.

Lola panicked, and she dashed in without thinking, to come between the two groups and held up her arms. Before her were the raised blades of her friends and crew, behind were her blood siblings, because certain protective familial instinct would never fade even after years and years.

“Stop it, all of you,” Lola said.

Zoro and Nougat separated from their fervent clash of swordsmanship, flower blossom swirled, the final exchange of interlocking strike caused the ground around them to fracture into spiderweb. They both jumped back, giving a wider berth, but ready to engage each other again should the need arise.

Nougat inhaled, slow and deep, to cool down the buzzing noise screeching for blood in his head. Sister Lola ultimately choosing to stand by their side placated him somewhat, but Nougat was still glaring daggers at that Strawhat captain who dared scratch his perfect older brother’s face.

“I’ll go back home, to accept whatever punishment Mama has in store for me, but please, don’t hurt these people,” Lola pleaded.

Panna was apathetic. “You are fairly resistant half an hour ago, Sister Lola, but now you are willing to take even potential capital punishment for someone you barely know?”

Before Lola could reply, Nami interrupted, for she could not hold herself back any longer. “Wait a fucking minute,” Nami said loudly, because what she was hearing was preposterous for someone who also had a sibling back home. “You people are looking for your sister all this time... to kill her?! Are you insane?”

Katakuri sighed, he was a bit annoyed with himself for his brief lapse in observation haki, and now his younger siblings were all on edge. “I will not deny the possibility,” he tonelessly replied. “Our Mama is not a very forgiving woman.”

“You’re okay with that?” Nami couldn’t believe this.

Katakuri clenched his fists, a question he constantly struggled with himself, but there was really no other answer he could give. “ _YES_ , because I’m a good son.”

“You are a puppet, nothing more,” Nami accused. A statement that hit too close to the truth.

“I am willing to be whatever ideal necessary to keep my family safe.”

“What about Lola? Is she not family for you—”

Lola stepped in, gingerly placing her hands over Nami’s shoulders. “I appreciate your concern, but there are a lot you don’t understand about my family, Namizo,” Lola said, pausing to mull over the name she had subconsciously given to this oddly familiar stranger who seemed to know her. Lola put that thought aside for now. “But please, you must not provoke them any further.”

“I won’t let you die for us,” Nami said. “You are my friend, and friends always help each other.”

“They’re not just your problem either,” Sanji added evenly, puffing a languid smoke ring into the air. Franky cocked his artillery, Robin raised her hands, Brook leveled his cane blade, Chopper shifted into Heavy Point, and Usopp aimed his giant Kabuto slingshot. They all stood before Charlotte Panna, knowing that woman was actually among the most dangerous foe they had ever encountered.

Zoro removed the black bandana secured around his left biceps and tied it over his forehead, drawing all three swords. He locked gaze with Charlotte Nougat, the kid would be his solo opponent.

Luffy cracked his knuckles and turned to Charlotte Katakuri, as always had the uncanny insight to quickly identify the primary issue, with all the people he inadvertently helped on this island offering their support.

“So we beat you up, and make you guys leave.”

The simple solution to this complicated conundrum, but actually a crisis in disguise on the horizon, like watching the advance of an unstoppable avalanche. Three hundred people might surround the three Charlotte siblings, a ratio of one hundred fighters to one, but it was certainly not them that were truly outnumbered.

“Please, don’t do this,” Lola whispered, trembling in distress. She held onto the orange-haired woman in her arms, touching the navigator gently. “You have to stop them, Namizo. I beg of you, or you’re all going to get yourselves killed.”

Nami shook her head. She knew there was no changing her young captain’s mind.

“Luffy has taken down Crocodile and Moriah,” Nami said, her faith unwavering. “Your older brother will be no different.”

Katakuri tilted his head, peering curiously at the brazen rookie captain that managed to land a hit on himself, the imperceptible sting of pain almost a forgotten foreign sensation on his skin. He lifted his right hand and beckoned with a twitch of his gloved fingertips, the gauntlet thrown, welcoming this invitation to play.

Did he honestly believe he could win? Katakuri wondered, what made this peculiar boy tick.

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reason Katakuri CoO crashed when he saw Luffy wearing the straw hat, please read **Family Album** Ch3. Luffy needed to land a hit to leave lasting impression, however pre-timeskip Luffy would not be fast enough to deliver a solid punch even when Katakuri’s haki was down, so just a tiny scratch... which is more than anybody else did in _years_.
> 
> I love how protective Katakuri is of his younger siblings, I love how protective his younger siblings are of him just as much~!


	11. Party

**Party**

Luffy pumped his calves and steamed. He was tired, still weakened after his battle with Gekko Moriah, but he already had food and a bit of rest. He would not hold back from the start. “Gear Second,” Luffy declared, sprinting with boosted agility towards Katakuri while simultaneously stretching his right arm back, for a point-blank hit with his fastest technique to date. “Gomu-Gomu... Jet Bullet!”

That attack was supersonic in speed, should be virtually inescapable in theory—

—but Katakuri sidestepped, avoiding the hit with minimal movement and seemingly ridiculous ease. The impossible happened next, when the Sweet Commander’s large hand closed around Luffy’s arm mid-strike, seizing him...?!

Luffy had never been caught like this in Gear Second before.

And then he was flung like a plaything, sent flying in an arch over the battlefield, before crashing down at the base of that fallen main tower hull. Luffy wasn’t hurt thanked to his rubber physique, but he was definitely unnerved.

“Anything else?” Katakuri asked, then shook his head in disappointment. “That’s boring, you are just trying to get a lucky shot in.”

Luffy got back up and attacked again, this time using both his fists. “Gomu-Gomu... Jet Gatling!” Luffy shouted, pelting his opponent in a relentless hurricane. His rapid fire technique bashed up a dust cloud when he struck the cobblestone ground, but he couldn’t feel hits landing on flesh at all, despite his target being such a huge man. Katakuri was walking through his shower of attacks like it was nothing. Luffy paused, halting his meaningless assault, and abruptly had an epiphany.

“You know mantra, just like Earlobes on Skypiea,” Luffy realized.

Katakuri concurred. “Mantra, that is the term they use on sky islands for observation haki,” Katakuri said. He knew about this, because his little brother Dacquoise was mixed-blood from a winged sky island race. “You are correct, I’m a proficient practitioner.”

Luffy thought about what had worked last time against those opponents, though this guy was so much swifter than Enel had been. He searched around, finding the collapsed tower building behind him made for an adequate bouncing material, so Luffy inhaled, enlarging his head into a ginormous size before letting air out and arms hung limp like spaghetti.

Katakuri was curious, so he decided against preventing the boy from going into this seemingly squishy octopus mode, then blinked in pleasant mirth when he foresaw what would follow. “That’s fairly clever,” Katakuri praised.

Luffy used his gatling punch on the wall, with heightened speed and potency compared to the past due to his Gear Second state, ricocheting his fists in all the random directions. “Gomu-Gomu... OCTOPUS JET FIREWORKS!!”

Katakuri would give him props for ingenuity at least, as he dived headfirst into that boy captain’s frenzy array, weaving seamlessly through the shower of fists completely unscathed. “Creative, but won’t work against me,” Katakuri said, crimson eyes gleamed as he dexterously snatched an uncoordinated hand from amid the chaos, grabbing Luffy by his wrist. Luffy was startled, since it was necessary to expose his back at the enemy to rebound his punches backward. “My observation haki is a bit different from normal, that not even a lack of intent will bypass my precognition sight.”

Katakuri then pulled Luffy by his elongated arm and whirled the kid through the air, again and again, in a mock caricature of his own most destructive technique, until Luffy was dazed and disoriented, before slamming him into a deep crater on the ground. Luffy yelped, but Katakuri knew his devil fruit ability would spare him from true injury. In another time and another life, when Luffy was significantly stronger and a serious family threat, Katakuri would imbue his spiked forearm with armament haki hardening and strike with all the determination to put him down for good.

Now though. Monkey D Luffy was just an inexperienced teen with a surname that brought back distant memories, perhaps inheriting a blood tie too heavy for his frail shoulders to carry.

Luffy coughed, sticking his tongue out as he panted, crawling out of the hole. He stood back up, stance unfaltering and his fists raised, however hopeless he was still going to try again.

The bigger problem, this kid was actually amusing. Katakuri needed to fight against his own smile...

... but was drawn away when he heard the forewarned echo of a beast.

.

Zoro and Nougat circled each other like a pair of young tigers, seeking for the slightest hint of an opening. Nougat being the hotheaded child, was once again the first to make his move. Zoro was surprised however, when Nougat completely changed method from before. The young Charlotte son didn’t charge at him from the front as he did every other time, but dashed to his right, to slice at his shoulder with a diagonal cut.

Zoro blocked with Shusui in his right hand, repelling the attack.

Nougat frowned, a quick uncertain glance at the black blade, before refocusing on his opponent. “Can you...?” Nougat started to ask, wondering if this man could actually use armament haki, then changed his mind. “Or just this sword that is special.”

Zoro didn’t know what the kid was referring to. “You’re too easily distracted.”

Nougat pouted. “So I’ve been told,” he muttered, recalling the many occasions Brother Katakuri had chastised him to pay more attention during this trip alone. Nougat darted to the right side again, this time to perform three consecutive hacks, his angle of assault becoming more difficult to counter with each, and now the older swordsman definitely knew he was doing it on purpose.

Zoro clenched his teeth, biting down on Wado Ichimonji. “You noticed.”

Nougat nodded. “You are left-handed, so of course I’m going to attack from the right,” he answered. “My swordsmanship was tutored by left-handed women, I learned to pick up the signs.”

“That’s some underhanded scheme,” Zoro growled.

“I am a pirate first and foremost, unfortunately,” Nougat replied. “I wasn’t taught to be an honorable swordsman, so I don’t mind trickery.”

Zoro was frustrated with the awkward position he was made to maneuver in. That kid was not weak on his own, even without all this bullshit. Their blades deadlocked in impasse, muscles straining against an equal opposing force, when Nougat dug the tip of his toes into the dirt, using his foot to throw dust into Zoro’s eyes.

That little fuck...!!

.

Panna had a more strenuous time compared to her two brothers due to the sheer number of enemies against her alone, among them was Robin as the most troublesome foe. Slender arms sprouted from her chest and bloomed on the floor, attempting to hold her down, but she was not going to get caught so easy. Panna was a dancer and a gymnast, her fighting style revolved around elegance and agility, and that was her secret advantage.

So, before those hands closed in on her, Panna cartwheeled forward in sudden rapid acceleration, turning herself into a spiked yo-yo heading straight for that devil fruit woman. “Il Io Taglio!”

That Charlotte daughter’s max attack speed was faster than anything the Strawhats had ever seen. They would not be able to dodge, especially in their current fatigue, so Franky put himself in front of Robin and spread open his arms, to withstand the full might of that shearing slash.

Franky’s instinct proved effective when sparks flew, but his steel chest remained unharmed. He wasn’t expecting Panna to abruptly uncurl from her balled-up state mid-attack however, bracketing his head between her knees, then backflipped him into the ground with tremendous strength. Franky yelled out in agony, his human backside bruised and lacerated after smashing through solid bedrock.

Franky was down for the count, but Usopp would not let his effort went in vain, and sniped at that woman with a Fire Bird Star.

Panna saw it coming. “La Trottola!” Panna called, spinning herself like a toy top to create a miniature tornado to put out the flames. She had phenomenal offensive capability and speed, but lacked in pain soak and endurance, because as Mama’s ‘bisque doll’ she was educated to allow absolutely nothing to mar her skin. Panna cartwheeled again, carving a groove through earth, racing past Sanji straight at that impudent sharpshooter.

Blood splattered. Usopp was down.

Sanji clamped down on his cigarette, frustrated that he could not keep up with Panna’s movement, but he forced himself to stay calm and let his tactical mind took over to analyze the situation. Thus he noticed this, that Panna in fact was not able to change direction in her spins. Sanji was ready the next time she came in her spiky cartwheel yo-yo mode, attempting to run down Brook, and kicked a large stone block into her predictable path to ruin her momentum. Sanji’s upbringing taught him to never physically harm a woman, but he could damn well create openings for his friends to have a fighting chance.

Panna flailed in surprise.

“Ochenta Fleur,” Robin said, immediately sprouting eighty arms to combine into four much larger limbs. “Cuatro Manos, Hold.”

If they could immobilize that Charlotte daughter, they could take her down—

“—Ahh!” Robin cried. There was a loud echo of bones snapping in half, flower petals dissipated, and Robin clutched at her left arm, bent in an odd angle. Panna’s strength was overwhelming, she was a woman capable of tanking a direct hit from Oars without sustaining visible bodily damage.

Three down, three to go.

Panna zeroed in on her next target, when...

“Huh?” Panna coughed, blood dotting her ripped blouse, when did that happened? Panna glared at the singing skeleton strolling past her now.

“Three-Verse Humming,” Brook said, re-sheathing his blade. “Arrow-Notch Slash!”

Panna growled, that hurt a lot, but wasn’t quite enough to take her down, and she swatted at the bone man with her claws. Brook rammed through a brick wall and stayed still, four down. Panna turned to Sanji and Chopper, last ones standing.

“Sanji, get out of the way, I don’t want to fight you,” Panna said, readjusting her ruby brooch to pin her torn shirt together. “I know you don’t want to fight me, either.”

Sanji exhaled, blowing smoke, but his fists shook. “I cannot do that, Panna-chan,” he replied.

Panna sighed. “Apologies in advance then,” she said sweetly, before bounded into the sky like jumping from a trampoline. “Let’s play hopscotch next, shall we? Le Campana!”

Sanji grabbed Chopper and rolled to the side, just as Panna dropped like meteor, with one foot nailing into the ground. Her ‘Le Campana’ technique was similar to Miss Valentine’s battle style from so long ago, but a hundred times faster coming in rapid succession, a skip and a crater created in every single second. Sanji stumbled across the war zone supporting Chopper in his arms, avoiding her with difficulty. With Usopp and Robin out of commission, there were not many options to reach an opponent attacking from the sky, so Nami assembled her clima-tact to join in the fight.

Lola stopped her before Nami could attempt a thunderbolt. “Namizo, listen to me,” Lola said urgently. “Panna and Nougat are not the problem. Whatever you do, you must not hurt them.”

“What do you mean, Lola?” Nami asked.

“Brother Katakuri, he is only playing right now,” Lola replied, gesturing to where her older brother was windmilling the Strawhat captain through the air. He wasn’t even using anything—no haki, no devil fruit ability, no weapon—so quite obvious to someone who knew his actual combat skill to understand he was clearly messing around.

“We need to keep it that way, my friend, but hurting my siblings will truly anger him. You must not do that—”

—when a beast bellowed. Chopper had made his decision, pushing Sanji away from himself before throwing three rumble balls into his mouth. Speed, durability, and ferocity were all required to beat down that hovering lady enemy. They had managed to hurt her a little, but total damage output was too low with their three primary attackers—Luffy, Zoro, Sanji—occupied or emotionally handicapped. This was the only way, so he activated Monster Point.

Panna was unsure when the cute animal turned into a hideous behemoth. It made for a bigger target though, so she dialed up her speed, aiming right between the fur shoulders. “Le Campana, Veloce!”

Monster Chopper was assailed on his back, upper body bending forward slightly, but his enhanced brawn held firm. Panna was unprepared when a brisk backhand thwacked her like an insect and her armament haki faltered. She was sent soaring away, perilously curling herself into a ball.

Panna had already taken more damage this night than expected, and was not sure she could bear another impact through concrete...

... when soft mochi cushioned her crash. Katakuri retracted his extended arm and pulled his little sister close, shielding her from further harm.

“Brother Katakuri,” Panna gasped, heart still racing.

“Awakened zoans are a bit more difficult to deal with,” Katakuri said gently, putting his sister down. “I’ll take him off your hands.”

Panna nodded. Katakuri then ran towards that reindeer beast, covering the distance quickly with long strides, to deliver a solid haki infused punch at that creature’s chest. Monster Chopper bawled in anguish, his gigantic figure colliding into the fallen main tower plowing through layers and layers of reinforced masonry, disappearing from sight.

“CHOPPER!!” Luffy and Sanji shouted, reacting to what had happened to their friend. They attacked Katakuri together. Luffy intertwining his fingers to form a net, while Sanji utilized friction to engulf his leg in flame.

Katakuri however was focused on a much more dire situation. He stepped aside, evading Sanji’s Diable Jambe so effortlessly the Strawhat chef might as well be a stationary statue, before stretching his right leg into a column of sticky mochi to pound Luffy into the ground. Strawhat captain was stuck now, with only his head and a hand exposed, half-buried underneath a mountain of rice cake.

Katakuri then turned to watch the duel between Nougat and Zoro, expression grim at what he foresaw, but compelled himself to respect his little brother and not intervene.

.

Zoro’s right forearm was bloody, with a wound that looked like it had been gnawed on by canine teeth. That kid’s blade work was precise, yet inflicted such erratic damage.

Zoro did not have much stamina left for a drawn-out fight after pushing himself through the night, so he huffed, reversing his grip on Sandai Kitetsu before angling both Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui to the right in a symmetrical formation. He rotated his swords, creating a barrier. “Santoryu Ogi—”

Nougat narrowed his eyes, knowing this was it. He spun his own katana, thrusting, to perform his most ruthless drilling stab. “Keks—”

They both dashed forward, to meet the challenge.

“—SANZEN SEKAI!!”

“—BOHREN!!”

Zoro and Nougat clashed, their blades glistened reflecting under the morning light.

.

Zoro wheezed, breathing hard, and red blossomed on his green haramaki, blood seeping through his clothes from a penetrative injury.

Nougat sighed, closing his eyes, the fluffy scarf around his neck unfurled and white feathers carried away by the wind. The katana in his hand trembled, the tip tinged scarlet, and then the metal cracked shattering into pieces. Nougat fell, collapsing headfirst onto the ground.

Zoro had won, however costly.

A shadow casted upon Zoro. He glanced up at the imposing figure before him now, with coppery tang in his mouth and blood leaking out of his stomach injury. His limbs were weak and heavy, the swords in his hands were unsteady, defenseless, but still Zoro determinedly refused to fall.

Nougat’s chest had been cut open. His every inhale shallow and heartbeat fluttered like hummingbird wings, with invaluable blood pooling onto concrete, but he clung onto consciousness for just a moment longer. Brother Katakuri was standing over them now, inscrutable and absolutely furious at what had transpired. He must’ve had anticipated this, only held himself back due to honor and for that Nougat was grateful, but now with the one-on-one duel concluded, there was _nothing_ to stop him from murdering the man responsible for this result.

With the last of his strength, Nougat released his broken blade and reached for his older brother, his bloodied fingertip touching a buckled boot, for the first time wishing to plead mercy for an adversary. _Don’t,_ he tried to say. _Don’t kill him..._

Katakuri looked at his precious little brother on the ground, struggling for each breath, before turning to glare at the man he held accountable. “I’ve warned you before, to not give me a reason to be your enemy.”

Zoro bit down on Wado Ichimonji. He didn’t even have the strength to speak and vision was dimming at the corners, his blood painting the heirloom’s handle in a sinister shade. Zoro understood what was going to come next, and he would be damned if he didn’t die on his feet.

Sanji went, in a last ditch attempt to kick at the Sweet Commander, but Katakuri caught him by the torso without even needing to turn around, and his entire arm darkened coating in armament haki hardening. Sanji howled in pain when Katakuri tightened his fist, no mercy.

“You hurt my sibling, so now pay with your life.”

.

Luffy was still trapped underneath a mountain of sticky mochi across the plaza, unable to move, and he was forced to helplessly watch it all happen. _No, no, no, no, no...!!_

“Zoro!!” Luffy shouted, searching for any way to help. There was nothing.

“Zoro!!” Luffy shouted again. He still couldn’t move.

“ZORO!!!” Luffy screamed, hoarse and desperate. His friend was going to die, yet he could do nothing but shriek his name one final time...

... and an oppressive dominating will burst forth, swiping through the area. Black flickering sparks emitted from Katakuri on reflex when pressure of another conqueror brushed up against his own, so weak in comparison, but his hand halted an inch away from that green-head swordsman’s stony face and attention redirected, to the young boy trapped still across the open field.

One in a million.

Just like him.

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone worried, rest assured there will be no major character deaths in this story.
> 
> BM Pirates keep their childhood fairytale food theme, so Panna's attacks are all based on toys and games: yo-yo, top, trampoline, hopscotch. In Italian, because Panna is named after the Italian dessert panna cotta.
> 
> Nougat ‘cheating’ in a sword fight is based on canon portrayal, as he is incapable of believing that Luffy did not. It made for an interesting personality conflict between his pirate side and swordsman side. Nougat’s final attack ‘Keks Bohren’ is a reference to both Cracker and Katakuri, means biscuit drill in German, named after Cracker.


	12. Parting Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reference to background events in **As a Charlotte Child** Ch5. this chapter. I absolutely refused to let Luffy give Katakuri any nickname, since he notably didn’t in canon.

**Parting Promise**

“DON’T KILL HIM...!” Nougat shouted, sitting up in a makeshift mochi bed. He blinked, feeling foolish and confused.

Panna looked over from the next cot. “Oh, you’re awake,” Panna said, she had her blouse removed and chest bandaged in gauze. Brother Katakuri was helping her into his black leather vest, too small on himself but a suitable size on his little sister. He tugged up the zipper, covering her upper torso from view, and then pinned the collars together with her ruby brooch.

Nougat was concerned. “Sister Panna, you’re hurt,” Nougat said. He reached for his scarf, as was his habit whenever he was anxious, then remembered it had been ripped apart during his duel.

Panna winced. “Yeah. Mama is going to be unhappy if it leaves a scar,” she said, touching her breast. “On the bright side, I won’t have to wear anything that exposes my cleavage ever again.”

Katakuri unwrapped the corner of his own scarf, shearing off a third of the length, and handed it over to his little brother. Nougat blushed, giving his older brother a quick flustered thanks, before once again swathing himself behind the comfort of fabric. Brother Katakuri always had a faint scent of sweet flour and safety.

“You didn’t kill Zoro, did you?” Nougat asked softly.

Katakuri gazed at his little brother curiously. “Are you worried?”

Nougat’s blush turned a shade deeper. “No, yes, I don’t know,” he murmured sheepishly. “He’s kind of nice, I guess?”

Katakuri hummed. “Lie down before you pull your stitches,” Katakuri said instead. He gestured to the woman with magenta curls preparing a silver tray across the gray bricked room, doctor from their own ship, so she could change the IV drip.

Nougat paled when he saw the label on those liquid bottles. “Hey wait, what are you doing!” Nougat struggled out of bed, before ducking beneath his older brother’s bare arm to figuratively hide under Katakuri’s protective tattoo wing. Nougat pointed an accusing finger at the contents on the medical tray. “I know saline solution means salt water, so get that thing away from me!” The young Charlotte son shied away pitifully from the doctor, mumbling in dismay, “I thought we told you to replace them all with sugar water equivalents, called... er, dex... dextrose solution?”

The woman doctor pinched her brows in long-suffering impatience. “I did, but an earlier attack on our ship resulted in seven casualties. They used up our medical provision, and then of course it would be you to immediately take a life-threatening injury,” she shook her head, wondering what was wrong in the head with the royal house she served. “Apologies for my insolence, but from what I’ve gathered this is completely your own fault, Lord Nougat. Beggars can’t be choosers, so please get back here. I am changing your IV.”

Nougat complied with much whining, getting goosebumps at the thought of salt being dripped directly into his veins.

“I promise you won’t feel any different, Nougat,” Katakuri consoled.

Nougat pouted, but then something else occurred to him. “If we don’t have any medical supply left, then where did these come from?” Nougat asked, pulling at the clear line connected to his wrist.

Katakuri turned to the doorway leading outside, as his answer.

Lola entered the room precisely at that moment, a lot more relaxed now that her friends and family weren’t about to murder each other, and in her hands carried a bag indicated with the universal healthcare white cross. “Strawhat Pirates’ reindeer doctor gave us these, as per our agreement, in exchange for everyone’s life.”

Katakuri nodded, motioning to a desk off to the side. Nougat tried to get up again. “Sister Lola, is Zoro still alive?”

“Don’t worry, dear, that handsome man is resting in the next room right now,” Lola replied cheerfully. “He was pushing his physical limit even before you shredded him through the stomach, but he’ll live.”

Nougat let out an indiscernible sigh of relief.

Lola put down the delivery, before coming to sit next to her older brother, on a rice cake stool. She seemed somewhat apprehensive now, with her hands twitching uneasily. “Brother Katakuri,” Lola said, chewing on her plump lower lip. “Why did you agree to trade? I know you are fully capable of reaving anything you need from them.”

“Is this not what you wished to happen, for me to spare your friends.”

“It is, but,” Lola sighed. “I know there is always a catch when dealing with us, Brother Katakuri. I am a Charlotte as well, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Katakuri gazed at each of his precious younger siblings and thought back on a time in distant past, when twenty brothers and sisters were abandoned on an island to fend for themselves. Katakuri had been even smaller than Nougat at the time, yet was already forced into killing so many marine soldiers by circumstance to protect everything he cherished, again and again, while knowing deep down it was only a simple matter of time before he would fail.

First person to push Katakuri near death’s door was a rear admiral that used two flamberge swords. Katakuri was pierced through the left shoulder and had his scapula destroyed by a hot blazing blade, resulting in the only visible battle scar on his body that he would later cover with tattoos, in return Katakuri hacked off that navy man’s forearms and permanently ended his career. Brother Peros pulled him and Amande aside afterward, to tell him they might need to leave everyone they love behind forever, because their presence would only endanger their whole family...

... and then like a hopeless miracle, Mama came back for them all.

“That Strawhat boy’s name is Monkey D Luffy, not a common surname,” Katakuri eventually answered. “Warlord Kuma’s suspicious action made me believe he could be related to Monkey D Garp of marine headquarters, perhaps his grandson.”

Lola was confused. “What does that old navy soldier have to do with this? Do you even know him?”

“Not personally,” Katakuri replied. He paused, as he carefully considered what he was going to say next, before continuing, “... but in a certain roundabout way, I owed him a life debt a long time ago.”

Lola, Panna, and Nougat were all shocked by this revelation.

“... It was before any of you were born,” Katakuri answered, he did not need to hear his younger siblings ask their questions. “Before Tottoland, before Big Mom Pirates. A very long time ago.”

Katakuri knew, that if it hadn’t been for Garp ‘the Hero’ killing ROCKS captain almost forty years in the past, their Mama would not have returned for them that day. Brother Peros was twelve, he was ten, Amande was nine... the three of them had bounties declared on their heads like death sentence and were stranded on an island with nowhere to escape. Their lives would likely have ended right then, their future nipped in the bud too young, if any marine headquarters vice admiral had arrived before their Mama did.

The younger Charlotte siblings were still curious, but Katakuri deemed it unnecessary to elaborate further. He just thought about how destiny worked to tie events in such poetic ways.

Katakuri tucked a loose strand of pink hair behind Lola’s ear, fond, because he had missed his little sister as well. “... so you can consider my leniency, as repaying a bygone debt.”

Lola nodded, accepting this explanation.

Elegant piano music drifted from outside, followed by singing and laughter and the clinking of plates. It was the beginning of a party.

“Ah, _Binks’ Sake_ ,” Panna said, perking up. “Can we join them, Brother Katakuri? It sounds like fun and I’m famished.”

“Not sure if we would be welcomed at this point though,” Katakuri said. “We were quite literally killing each other just yesterday.”

Nougat wasn’t listening, as he gathered mochi cushions into his arms. “I am taking these to Zoro, he’ll feel much better once he has some sugar in his system.”

Lola hurriedly chased after her little brother, trying to explain that normal people’s body absolutely did not work that way. Nougat was already out the door though, dripping blood along the path, because his own injury apparently was doing nothing to quell his enthusiasm. Panna grinned, standing up as she took hold of her older brother’s larger palm. “Let’s go to the tea party.”

Katakuri complied, following his younger siblings out the door. It was amazing in a way, how these people were capable of forgiving, despite never forgetting.

.

Sanji twirled over when he saw Panna entering the hall, and held up a plate of delicate desserts. “I was told you have quite a sweet tooth, so I’ve made something special just for you,” Sanji singsonged. “Slice of blackberry meringue pavlova, churros, and skyr yogurt.”

“Thank you, Sanji,” Panna replied earnestly, taking a cup of yogurt.

“Lola-chan also informed me the best way to bribe your brother is with doughnuts, so I’ve stockpiled a hundred over—hey, where did your brother go?”

Usopp hollered from across the room. “WHO ATE ALL THE DOUGHNUTS IT WAS HERE A SECOND AGO!!” Usopp shook Luffy by the shoulders, pulling at his own stitches. “I bet it was you! Nobody else here can eat that fast!”

“Shishishi,” Luffy laughed. “It wasn’t me, Usopp! It wasn’t me!”

Katakuri came back and sat down beside his little sister, a sprinkle of sugar powder on his scarf the only evidence of him having committed a gluttony crime. Panna chuckled, shaking her head.

Brook played on the piano, with everybody singing along. Franky pulled the sable antelope mink from Big Mom Pirates onto the table, and together they performed this weird dance with chopsticks up the noses and bamboo baskets in their hands. Robin chatted amiably with the cheetah mink woman, the archaeologist had her left arm in a sling. Nami and Lola finally got their chance to talk, and the Risky Brothers reconnected with that crewman from the longleg tribe, good acquaintances from years ago. At the quieter corner of the room, Zoro was awake and attempting to chug down a tankard of beer, with Chopper freaking out and Nougat laughing beside him, and together they shared a bowl of marshmallows. Panna giggled when Sanji asked her to dance, and she accepted the offer, leading that gentleman chef onto the floor.

Katakuri discreetly hummed to himself in his good mood, following the lyrics of the song, content to watch his younger siblings play. From the center of this spacious chamber, ‘Strawhat’ Luffy caught the Sweet Commander’s eyes from his position atop the piano lid, and grinned.

Next time they met, they would not be friends, but perhaps it was for the best that they wouldn’t part on hostile terms this day.

.

Big Mom Pirates were ready to set sail once the party concluded in the afternoon, while Strawhats decided to recoup on the island barque for another night. Franky the carpenter and diligent shipwright helped Brook set up a respectable gravesite, and then he fixed the Rumbar Pirates ship rudder, so that Victim’s Association group and Rolling Pirates had an option to leave. It was eventually agreed upon that they would accompany the smaller Big Mom Pirates commander battleship to Fishman Island, and then the New World beyond.

Lola was depressed.

Katakuri approached his little sister. “You should get on the ship,” he said gently. “We’ll be leaving soon.”

“Yeah, but...”

Katakuri chose his next words carefully. “Weather is harsh on the Grand Line and following another ship is especially difficult during unpredictable storms,” Katakuri said. “Nobody will fault you for accidentally diverging off course.”

Lola blinked in surprise.

“Get on that bigger ship, Lola. Your crew needs you,” Katakuri said, his fingers caressing tenderly through his little sister’s silky hair. “I will report to Mama that we did not locate your ship anywhere in the Florian Triangle. It is technically, the truth.”

Lola hugged her brother’s thigh tightly, her voice quivered in gratitude. “Thank you so much, Brother Katakuri. You are the best.”

It was not easy at all, being who they were, bearing the weight of a surname that could choke like iron chains. More often than not, freedom was a luxury hard to come by, but sometimes there would be a way to bring a little more happiness into his family. Katakuri watched his sister walk away on lighter steps, and knew he made the right decision.

Panna understood what had happened the moment she saw her older brother board their ship, alone and without her older sister by his side. “So you’re really letting Sister Lola go, scot-free?” Panna asked, pursing her lips. “It will mean we have to lie to Mama. Good thing we still have that cerberus gift prepared at least.”

“Does that bother you?” Katakuri asked.

Panna stuck out her tongue. “Of course not. It won’t be the first time we lied for each other,” she said. “I don’t like it, but I’d rather not get you in trouble. Nougat, what about you?”

“Same here,” Nougat replied, sitting on the ship railing and swinging his legs. “I want to get a new sword before we head home though, or Brother Newji is going to have a field day.”

“We will be taking a detour, stop by a place called Sabaody Archipelago to get our ship coated. It is a popular merchant depot, we’ll find a decent sword for you there,” Katakuri said. He raised a hand and the mochi web anchoring their ship dissolved into the water at his silent command. Their crewmen unfurled the majestic sails, the battleship gradually carried away on the ocean currents, exiting the open mouth-gate.

Inexplicably, Katakuri chuckled. “I look forward to it,” he said. Panna and Nougat gave their older brother a questioning glance.

That was when Luffy and the rest of the Strawhat Pirates suddenly showed up on the shore. “I’ll find you in the New World, Katakuri!” Luffy called. “I will get stronger and stronger. Next time we meet, I AM GOING TO SURPASS YOU!!”

“That guy is delusional,” Nougat said, but without any hint of animosity. Panna laughed, waving at that rookie crew gathered on the coast.

Katakuri smiled. “We shall see.”

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **(epilogue)**
> 
> For their return trip back home to Tottoland through Fishman Island, it was absolutely crucial to find an adequate ship coating mechanic in Sabaody Archipelago. Magpies chirped cheerfully among verdant foliage overhead, and Katakuri read the location written on the recommendation note in his hand.
> 
> _Shakky’s Ripoff Bar._
> 
> That didn’t sound very promising all things considered, but if the best resin craftsman were truly there, Katakuri was sure he could come up with some offer they wouldn’t refuse—
> 
> —Katakuri paused, paralyzing on the spot. The chime of a bell as the wooden door swung open from inside, an aged man walked out. Flowing silvery hair and circular glasses, vertical scar over one eye, quivering fingertips and an alcohol flask falling to the ground.
> 
> What cruel joke was this? Two and half decades of regret, or maybe...
> 
> ... an unexpected second chance.


End file.
